


The Journey of Pimps

by slowmobanana



Series: The Journey of Pimps [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fantasy, Gen, Mild Language, Minecraft, Some Characters aren't listed for the sake of surprises and stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-01
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-01-27 20:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 24
Words: 75,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1722224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slowmobanana/pseuds/slowmobanana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The rumours of a Golden Tower began to circulate a year ago, and it is said to be buried under the many Myths of the Overworld. Michael Jones is an early retired traveler who has found a peaceful home in the clearing of a beautiful, secluded forest. When he discovers a cave near to his home holds a clue to the location of the Golden Tower, he is unwillingly pulled into a great adventure by a cheerful thief and the friends they make along the way, calling themselves the Achievement Hunters.</p><p>Their journey is long and perilous. The further they press on, the more they come to question legend, lore, fate, and true intentions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It Starts in a Cave

**Author's Note:**

> I actually have no freaking idea what I'm doing. I just really hopes this works out. This is the first Fanfiction I've had the urge to write in a long time and I'm taking this opportunity to write. So, here we go! Let's pray this goes right...
> 
> On with the story!

Reading was not something he really enjoyed doing. He didn't read unless he had to. The only thing he hated more than reading was reading upside down over a pit of lava with several monsters threatening his safety line.

The groans of zombies bounced off the edges of the lava-bottomed cave. Arrows were whizzing by his head with poor aim and clinking against the wall beside him as he remained completely still, trying to comprehend the words he was trying to decipher upside down.

His diamond sword hung securely at his side. He secured everything before he swung his way down the safety line but, even then, he still lost a few bricks of smoothstone into the threatening lava below.

Several times as he was reading, his mind wandered off to think about his current situation and how in the hell he was going to get out of this one without either falling in the lava or falling victim to spiders and zombies and skeleton archers.

More arrows clinked against the wall by his head and he remained unflinching, although it was beginning to grow more annoying with all the sounds that interrupting his thoughts. Slowly, he mumbled to himself the words he was beginning to make out, then tilted his head and rubbed his finger against his chin. “ _With the might of the... sky,_  uh... _in reach of_... _fingers_...” His safety line jerked suddenly, shaking the upside down warrior once. “Fuck  _me_ ,” and he slowly started swinging side-to-side. He stole a glance to his ankle, which the safety line wrapped around his ankle and a boulder that was secure at the top of the ledge, keeping him suspended above the lava.

A zombie wandered too close to the edge in an attempt to eat the man alive and tumbled over the edge, zipping passed him with a loud _whoosh_. There was another loud curse as he swung into the wall and the zombie dropped into the lava with a sizzle and it was gone.

Mumbling _yet_ another curse, he returned to deciphering the other language. “ _With the might of the sky in reach of_ something _fingers, one will find the_ something _gold stacked upon..._ something _over the_ something _heart of the Overworld._ ” While unsatisfied with not knowing the missing words of the clue, he decided he knew enough for the moment and that escaping with his life was more important than a few descriptive words of text carved into a wall.

With a huff, he reached up with all his strength and grabbed the safety line that was tied around his ankle. He used all his strength to start pulling himself up the rope towards the ledge. He stole a moment to check for clearance on the ledge and spotted one spider that stared down at him.

The young man reached over his shoulder behind his back and pulled a translucent, sky blue sword from it's sheath. Biting down on the blade, he offered two good heaves up the rope before he was within swinging distanced of the spider. He grabbed the blade in his right hand, clutched the rope with his left, and with a powerful jab, he stuck the spider's center. He grunted and pulled the blade behind him, spider and all, and the whole creature flew over his head and into the lava below. He replaced the sword back into it's sheath and hauled himself up over the edge. An arrow slammed against the stone wall by his head and the warrior was instantly reminded of the skeleton archers along the adjacent wall of the cave.

Dusting off his yellow shorts, he bolted down the side of the ledge, a trail of arrows pinging against the wall he ran along – thankfully avoiding them all. He decided against dealing with the archers and jumped over a massive statue that was half submerged in lava. All it took now was just to follow the trail of torches he had left behind and he was confident the light kept the monsters away for at least the brief period he was down there.

He bounced up several rocks, his feet hard against the cave floor to grant him speed, and found himself in a second cavern. Just on the other side of the cavern was a short tunnel leading up to the surface. Picking up his speed, he forced the last of his stamina to throw him across the cavern.

He remained focused on the target and failed to notice the arrow that cut through the air with better precision than he was use with to with skeleton archers. The arrowhead still missed it's intended target (his heart) but not without a scratch along the calf.

“Son of a _bitch_!” But the small wound did not stop him – as he never let them – and he jumped and hopped and limped his way across the cavern to the tunnel and stumbled his way up the rocks. He lost his footing once but did not fall and burst out into the light of day.

He jumped around on his uninjured foot for a moment, trying to shake away the annoying pang that accompanied the painful, albeit small, scratch on his leg. Though, if that was the worst he got away with, then he considered himself lucky and quit his complaining as soon as the pain subsided.

The tunnel had opened up to a great field of nothing but grass and a forest that contained many but generally harmless livestock. Not only did he know the area well like the back of his hand, but he escaped death quite easily and with little injury.

Today was definitely his day.

With a satisfied hum, he started off in the direction he was most certain about – home. It was a long but kind walk and he strolled leisurely over the beaten path under the trees home to the many birds that seemed to occupy this area. A gorgeous part of the world, really. He had spent a many years looking for the best part of the Overworld to live in where adventure still lurked in the slightest and there was animals to hunt and a nearby river for food.

He broke out into a small clearing where a modest, two story house stood strong on it's own. Vines were beginning to climb up the walls and he had left them there because he didn't want to tear them off just yet.

Off to the side, up by the door, was a sign that at first read _Michael Jones's House_ but Michael Jones had been crossed out gently and replaced at the top with the name _Mogar_. It didn't really matter which name he put but he thought Mogar sounded cooler than Michael and thus adopted it as a nickname for himself.

However, he knew no one who called him by Mogar. In fact, he knew no one at all. His house was built all alone in the middle of the forest and he had no problem with it, for the most part. Should he get lonely, he would wander off to the nearby city (which was only fifteen or so minutes away) and talk with the townsfolk about the news of the Overworld.

This was, indeed, how Michael discovered the myth of the Golden Tower. The rumour had started some time last year about a golden tower that could grant power and wishes and all sorts of fancy jazz Michael didn't exactly care about. His interest lied in the journey itself and, mostly, in the fact he knew exactly which cave held a clue of this Golden Tower. After all, he had spent a few good years out in his lonely little cabin in the middle of the woods and quite missed adventuring around the Overworld. Although he felt he had been everywhere, he hadn't quite seen enough and there were still a few cities he had heard quite a lot about but never entered their gates.

Perhaps hearing of the myth was a sign that he should at least look into the nearby cave for the said clue.

He turned the knob of the door and opened it gently, revealing the bright and cozy wooden living room. Along one wall on the right was a crafting table, a potion stand, several chests, and a furnace. Along the other wall was a table, a few chairs, and several bookcases full of books he never used or read because he never found the time nor the interest to actually read them.

Michael removed his diamond sword from his back and rested it against the wall in the corner. He started towards the furnace, but as he drew close, there was a thud from the room upstairs. He paused for a moment, then retrieved his diamond sword and started towards the stairs at the back of the room.

The warrior was quiet for a moment, straining his ears to listen for the noise again. Again, he heard more thumping from the floor upstairs and he was torn between disbelief and anxiety; something was up there, but whatever was up there wasn't very good at hiding. He unsheathed his sword and slowly prowled his way to the back of the room, eyes trained on the bottom of the stairs as the thumping moved from the front of the house to the back where the stairs were. Michael stopped in his tracks and stared intensely, holding his breath.

Slowly, the sound descended down the steps, stair by stair. There were at least ten stairs between the first and second floor and a wall kept the stairs hidden until the final step touched the floor.

The sound reached the fifth step from the bottom when a loud, “ _Whuh_ \--!” shot through the air, following by several bangs as the thing tripped down the steps and hit the wooden floor, sprawling awkwardly with a final and the loudest _Ka-thunk_!

Michael flinched with the noise and stepped back, keeping his sword and his eyes trained on the green lump of dotted cloth on the ground. He leaned forward, stepping once, only to recognize the pattern before he recognized the shape. He stepped back and yelled, “Creeper!” which caused the Creeper to look up in a panic and shout, “What?! Where?!”

In it's panic, the Creeper jumped to it's feet and started running around blindly with a cloth over it's face. Michael didn't move and instead watched what seemed like quite the comedic show of a Creeper (which he had come to conclude wasn't actually a Creeper) ran around the house, shouting in an accent, “I'm blind! Good God, it got me! It got me and I'm blind!”

Suddenly, the 'creeper' stopped in it's tracks and lifted up the cape that was draped over it's head, revealing what was really a very confused young man. Throwing off the cape, he regained his composure, adjusting the diamond bow on his back. “Nevermind. I'm quite alright.”

For the moment, Michael was sort of upset the man didn't run into anything in his state of panic but he wasn't exactly more fond of a stranger in his home than a creeper. “Get out,” he said simply, pointing towards the door. The man looked to him, then paled, then regained his colour.

“Who're you?”

Michael dropped his hand to his side and glared. “Who am I? Who're you!? Why are you in my house?!” His voice cracked once, more angry than amused by this point.

“This is, this is your house?” The other shifted his weight then thought about what he was going to say, paling as he came to realize how this must have looked. At a loss for anything to say, he forced an, “I'm Gavin and, uh, this is a _lovely_ house you got.”

“Get out.”

“See, I thought this place was abandoned, and I was actually really happy I found some place that I might be able to sleep--”

“Out.”

“Would you happen to know the way to the, uh, cave with the clue for the golden tower, by any chance?”

Michael stiffened, consideration flashing across his features  “It's that way. Get out.”

“What, you didn't tell me your name."

Michael sighed. “If you look at the sign out front, it tells you my name.”

The man named Gavin stared at him for a moment, then nodded and started out the front door. He wandered his way over to the sign and knelt down to read it. “Uh, says... Mogar. Is that your name?” He looked up at the other then back at the sign. “Who's _Micool_?”

“What?”

“Micool Jones. Is that you?” Michael shook his head, then turned and shut the door. “Hey! Hey, Micool!”

He locked the door and sighed, praying the man would take the directions and go away. While he wasn't cold to strangers, he didn't like idiot breaking into his house. He took a few steps away from the door and listened for fading steps to indicate the other had left but he heard nothing.

Satisfied anyway, he started towards the stairs and wandered up, shaking his head and cursing to himself about failing to put a lock on his door. The upstairs, really, was one giant room with a bed and weapons lining up the longest wall. Everything from wood to diamond, farming tools to armor, glinted under the sun through the reinforced skylight in the roof. Truly, the collection was a combined result of his five years of exploring the Overworld and having mined several unneeded resources with long hours of free time.

He made his way across the room to his bed and kicked off his shoes. Perhaps he should have been more prepared for the excavation to the cave, but the safety line wouldn't have been able to hold him if he had been wearing armor.

Michael's eyes scanned over his collection of impressive, homemade weapons then noticed the two missing weapons. One being his diamond sword, which was resting on his back, and the other... He couldn't quite place what it was that was missing, but it was a diamond weapon. He had the hoe, the pick axe, the battleaxe, and his sword...

Where was his bow?

There was a moment of silence as Michael tried to list a reason why he would remove his bow from his collection, when he remembered he never used it because he didn't know how. So, why did he move it and where did he put it?

Then it dawned on him.

“No...” He stood up suddenly, frozen in the moment as he allowed a shiver of shock run down his back. “That _son of a bitch_ , he didn't!”

But, he did.

The man named Gavin had stolen his diamond bow and now was running off to the cave in search of the clue for the Golden Tower. While the bow could be easily replaced, _no one_ stole from Mogar and got away with it. Forcing on his shoes, he sprinted out the front door towards the cave in search of the thief, grumbling about the creeper-dressed idiot and tripping over a rock he failed to notice.

Yep. It was _so_ his day.


	2. And Then He Goes Back to the Cave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, another chapter. I feel, for a beginning, this is kind of slow, but that's mainly because I'm not entire sure what it is I'm doing yet. Well, on with the story!

For the first time in what felt like years, the forest had become more a nuisance than a home and it suddenly became as annoying as every other forest he had seen in his time traveling around the Overworld.

Tripping became an hazard in his anger as he continued to pursue after the thief who stole his diamond bow. He continued to stumble and grumble and curse his way over the beaten path towards the cave he had pointed the thief in. He hadn't been this angry in years, in all honesty, but what little reputation he had didn't know him to be the most patient of people.

Finally, he stormed out into the field near to the cave, then made a 90 degree right to which the cave was well in view. He huffed and walked towards the cave, only to stop at the mouth. He had been here before, and the only way to read the message was to lower oneself down the ledge to the writings on the wall.

If the thief was as much of an idiot as Michael's first impression made him seem, then Michael had a good feeling the idiot would turn up either dead or empty-handed. More likely the latter, but if he died, then the diamond bow would be lost with him.

He stood in the mouth of the cave for a few moment, debating his morals. He would be more than happy to beat the shit out of the thief for stealing his bow, but leaving him to die would be wrong. Could the idiot take care of himself?

A twig snapped not too far behind him and Michael whipped around, diamond sword ready in hand, expecting the thief to appear. At first, he saw nothing but the shadows of the trees and the green of the leaves. He squinted and leaned forward, looking for what had made the noise, though he had already figured it was a ocelot or a wolf.

In the darkness, a silhouette formed. At first, unrecognizable, but it grew in size and Michael stepped back hesitantly. It was the size of a man, perhaps larger than Michael himself, and unusually blocky. “What the hell?”

An armoured hand reached out into the light to firmly grasp a tree trunk as the silhouette stepped over a tangle of branches and into the sunlight. The being was almost pure armor, including an oddly shaped helmet to make the being seem almost unhuman. Michael briefly wondered if he was staring at an alien astronaut. The being looked from side to side then turned to Michael, who was keeping a good two seconds of reaction time between them. “Hello.” It's voice was metallic from inside the helmet and suffocated.

Michael hesitated for a moment. “Hi.”

The armor clanked as the being reached up and grabbed the helmet, pulling forward and revealing a man with a comical mustache. “Is this Pyro's Den?”

Pyro's Den? Quietly, Michael placed the sword back in it's sheathe and straightened up his stance. “Are you looking for the cave with the scripture on the Golden Tower?” The man nodded. “Then, yeah, this would be it.”

The man nodded again, in thanks, and started into the cave. Michael stood quietly for a moment, then turned and looked back at the man who was already inside the cave. He hesitated, then started down the tunnel after him.

When they reached the cavern, they exchanged glances and Michael only offered a small movement of the eyebrows as a sign of temporary friendliness. At first, the other man seemed uncertain, then he shrugged nonchalantly and offered a hand to the other. “Geoff.”

Michael hesitated, then took other's hand and gave one firm shake. “Michael.” And they immediately turned back to the situation at hand. He wondered if he should have introduced himself as Mogar, but who knew him by that name anyway?

The two men wandered into the heart of the cavern. Michael remembered it was around here he had been scratched by an arrow. Reminded of it, he looked at his calf to check on the healing wound. The only evidence of the injury now was just a red line and so he disregarded it entirely of his attention. He looked up to the ledges where the archers had been, only to find piles of bones in their place.

Someone had been here and ridded Pyro's Den of it's monster infestation.

“There's someone here.” Geoff leaned forward and pulled a stone battleaxe from the sheathe on his back; Michael did the same. A person stood at the mouth of the second tunnel, and he looked back at them when Geoff's vocie reached his ears. Concern flashed his features and he jumped down the ledge behind him. “Who was that?”

Michael didn't offer a reply. Instead, he stormed after the figure with irritation etched on his expression. Geoff tossed a confused glance to the back of Michael's head but said nothing as he continued down the tunnel after Michael and the mysterious someone.

They descended down the tunnel to the second cavern, a burst of hot wind blowing back the strings on Michael's bear-eared hat. The room was brighter now, the black rocks now red from the light of the molten rocks. The lava was rising and, in time, the scripture would be lost with the flat-topped ancient statues.

Not far up ahead of them, the figure in green clothing recognizable to Michael was making his way across the flat top of the statues. Another gust of strong wind blew through Gavin's clothes, forcing him to a kneel so he would not be blown off, and ripped the cape from his shoulders. The square cloth was carried down and devoured by the lava. “Aw, I liked that cape!”.

“Hey, asshat!”

Gavin craned his neck awkwardly to look over his shoulder. On the ledge stood an angry Michael and a confused Geoff. “Uh, oh.”

He squeaked loudly and stood, sprinting much faster now over the flat tops of the statues and finally on the ledge where the scripture was written a few meters below the ledge Gavin crouched on. Michael started across the flat top statues towards Gavin on the ledge, followed by Geoff who was still wielding his stone battleaxe.

Gavin searched frantically for the scripture, also keeping an eye on the rising lava.

Along the way, Geoff was trying to talk sense into the raged traveler. “Hold on, Michael, I don't think this is a good place to kill someone!”

“Are you kidding me? This is the perfect place!” Although, truthfully, Michael had no intention of killing anyone – only scaring the thief and taking back his diamond bow. "There's lots of lava, and rocks, and no one will ever find the body..."

Having overheard their conversation, Gavin flew into a fit of panic and whipped out the diamond bow and an arrow, training his eye on the approaching threats. Michael and Geoff stopped right in their tracks. “Don't you use my own bow on me!” Michael snapped across the path of statues.

Gavin blinked and raised an eyebrow, clearly confused by the statement. Suddenly, the entire cave began to shake. “Oh, shit!” Simultaneously out of instinct, all three men dropped to one knee, attempting to wait out the earthquake.

“I think it's gonna blow!” Geoff shouted after a few moments. Michael cursed again to himself.

Across the rising channel of lava, a piece of the wall crumbled, giving way to an unused tunnel. For a moment, all attention was on the tunnel. Michael and Gavin met gazes for a moment, before Gavin turned on his heel and started sprinting across the ledge and two more flat-topped statues.

The lava was rising much faster now, bits of rock and earth falling on their heads, and it was now a race of escaping the lava than cat-and-mouse. Michael and Geoff bolted across the trembling statues and shaking overhangs.

As they turned the corner to run along the second wall, part of the ledge crumbled under Geoff's foot and the heavily armored man stumbled, dropping onto his stable knee so he did not fall over the edge. With a laboured grunt, he forced himself back onto his feet and continued to sprint after Michael.

By this time, Gavin had already reached the tunnel and was crawling inside, digging out the loose piece of dirt with an iron hoe, the dirt coming loose on it's own. The lava was rising equal to the flat-tops and the ledges.

Michael was forced to jump over the small creaks of lava that was beginning to form in the statues, which was beginning to crumble under the lava pressure.

With a decent hop, both men finally made it to the other side of the cavern. “Hurry, hurry, hurry!” Geoff shouted as they approached the tunnel and Michael rushed up the tunnel.

Geoff looked back at the rising lava, spotting the scripture across the channel just as the lava hungrily ate away at the clue, then turned and started up the tunnel behind Michael.

…

Wind blew over the field and cooled the horses under the sweltering sun. One mare nickered and a colt brayed in response. The colt trotted across the plains to his mother then lowered his head to munch on the grass. Between the colts front hooves, the ground formed a small lump. The colt lowered it's head to inspect the lump and the ground suddenly broke.

The colt jumped back in surprise and stared at the newly formed hole. Out peeked two bear ears sewn onto a hat and the young man who wore it. He looked up, squinting at the sun, then turned to the startled colt. “The hell you lookin' at?” he snapped.

“Move, Michael!” The armoured man underneath Michael pushed the other upward, forcing him out of the hole straight upwards with his legs on Geoff's shoulders. Once Geoff was out of the tunnel, he pushed Michael off and the younger male fell onto his ungracefully back with a huff.

“What the hell!?”

Michael's complaints went unheard by Geoff as he climbed out of the hole and looked over the plains and all the horses, of which now were staring at them.

“Where are we?”

Geoff turned and Michael was already on his feet, rubbing his head. “I'm not sure,” he admitted. “That tunnel went on forever, it felt like.”

Michael folded his arms and also stole a glance at all the horses. “The asshole we were following was the only one with a digging tool. He just seemed to go on forever with it. Speaking of which, where is he?”

Both men took a greater, more careful look for the creeper dressed man but he was nowhere to be found. “He should have come up around here just before us, right? He couldn't have gone far without us seeing him.”

“This is bullshit!” Michael threw his head back and groaned loudly. “I should've just stayed home today.”

Geoff sighed and looked off into the distance. Then he pulled out a compass. “I'm pretty sure the closest town is North of here,” he said, starting in said direction. “Maybe he's gone there.” Michael sighed with defeat. Without any other option, he trotted passed the horses after Geoff towards the nearby city.

The colt watched the two men leave in the direction of the city, then turned and lowered his head to eat the grass. What his teeth met wasn't the blades of crunchy plants, however. Instead, it tasted thick cloth and the colt lifted his head, noting the creeper-like pattern on the cloth. The cloth rose to a crouch, finally forming into the young thief who had been laying in the grass the entire time. “Seem like good champs, don't they?” The colt brayed and Gavin looked to the young horse, then reached up to pet him. “I think this might actually work.”

Suddenly, the colt sneezed and Gavin had no chance to avoid the spray of snot that flew onto his face. He pulled his hand off the colt's fur and wiped the thick fluid from his face, thoroughly disgusted. “Gross...” he mumbled, wiping his hand on the grass.

The colt nickered, which could easily be interpreted as a horse-like form of laughter.


	3. Michael and Geoff Help the Rose Vigilante

The city was bustling with people, and held a good definition of the wealthy, the working-class, and the poor. There was no colour to the city other than various shades of gray and brown and the colourful dresses of the wealthy ladies and escorts.

“This is a pretty big city...” Michael mumbled as he and Geoff found themselves in the town square. While the classes and wealth was evident in the people, the children remained innocent about their defined classes and played together around the fountain in the square. There was a sort of longing that hung between the duo in the silence as Geoff got a hold of their surroundings.

The walk there had taken them longer than they anticipated, and Michael had gotten to know the new companion quite well.

Geoffrey Ramsey, known as Geoff by his friends, was a wandering warrior, or job-taker, or temp worker. There were many names for what he was. He made his living by traveling between towns and making money off the dangerous jobs people had to offer, such as retrieving a stolen family heirloom from a band of thieves or searching for a lost soul in the dark woods. The stories Geoff told made him seem impressive, although Michael had done similar things in his time traveling the Overworld.

“But you're looking for the Golden Tower, aren't you?” the traveler asked at some point during their conversation. The question was a good one, Michael thought, considering that Geoff was looking for the clue before they were forced to find themselves in the heart of a city Michael hadn't been to before.

“It's said the Golden Tower grants wishes,” Geoff had replied quietly. “Anything you want.” Though, it was then Geoff went silent and when Michael pressed for more answers, he was met with a harsh silence, the tired eyes of Geoff more weary than before.

Michael continued on to explain his situation, about how he had already read the scripture at Pyro's Den; about the green thief named Gavin who stole his diamond bow from his home and how he planned to get it back. Though, by this point, Michael admitted, it seemed sort of pointless since it would be just as much hard work to simply make a replacement bow with the resources he had already at home. More or less, it had grown to become a game Michael would take part in for only so long before he decided he would quit.

“Either way,” Geoff began as they entered the gates. “if you're interested in a little adventure, you could always come with me.”

“I don't know where home is,” was his reply and while he received a questioning look from Geoff, he didn't bother to explain any further. He meant what he had said; even if he wanted to go home, he wasn't sure where that was, really. Supposedly, he could ask about the city by his home but he disregarded the thought entirely.

As Michael and Geoff stood in the town square to gather their bearings, Geoff mumbled something about looking for an inn and staying the night in town. Michael's attention wandered from the suggestion down the cobblestone road to where a group of people were gathering around the front of an old gray building.

The building seemed no different from all the others, but it was smaller in comparison. It held only two stories high and the roof seemed to be coming apart. It almost resembled a small cottage in a way, although dirtier and less maintained.

Intrigued, Michael started towards the group of people around the building. He was joined shortly by Geoff at the back of the crowd, then pushed their way forward. “Please, you can't!” a woman cried. They finally reached the front of the crowd to the scene of a woman of low-working class on her knees, surrounded by small, dirty children. Before her was a man of higher wealth with a sash titled MAYOR along the front.

As though he were making it very loud and clear, over and over to those who apparently could not understand, the Mayor said (although it was more like shouting), “This is my town, and I decide what is to be done. Hand over to me the deed of the building, woman!”

The woman shook her head and clutched the deed to her chest, refusing to give over the deed. The Mayor was clearly frustrated with this and his hands balled into fists. “This is against the law! I will have you arrested for defying me!”

Michael's eyes tore from the scene for the moment to read the sign behind the woman; _Tiffany's Orphanage_. His gaze was returned to the Mayor and the woman (he assumed was named Tiffany). In a moment, he felt the pang of fury in his chest before he even registered the emotion, mumbling an involuntary, “The fucker...” He was the least patient of people, truthfully. Beside him, Geoff had kept his usual tired expression, although his gaze was hard-fixed on the Mayor and thus gave away the anger he was trying to hide underneath a cool mask.

It was too sudden, however, and Michael hadn't been expecting it. The Mayor drew back his hand, reeling back to strike the woman. Both males reached for their weapons, but it would be too late... Before the backhand connected, a black shadow dropped from the sky and the attempted hit was halted instantly by gloved fingers.

There was a united gasp of shock, which even Michael and Geoff, the Mayor, and the woman all joined in on. Between the Mayor and the woman stood a man, well-dressed in a tuxedo, wielding a stone dagger of the sort. His hand clutched the Mayor's wrist. He had a white mask over his eyes to keep his identity and a rose in his jacket pocket – all notable things of what Michael could call a vigilante.

The vigilante held the Mayor's gaze for the moment before the Mayor stumbled backward in shock. The masked man held out a hand and shook it once, a healthy rose appearing like magic between his fingers. “I'm sure you're aware of how uncivil it is to hit a woman, Mayor.” He spoke like silk, though with a condescending, controlling undertone that seemed to slip passed most ears, save for Michael and Geoff.

And the Mayor.

“Guards!” he screamed, his voice almost shrill, and several well-armored men with golden swords rushed to the scene from hidden places, and the audience.

Michael kept his hand to his sword and debating making his own appearance in the fray, though by the time he had finally made up his mind, the vigilante turned to the woman behind him. “Give me the deed,” he whispered. When she did, he slipped it down his sleeve and winked. “I promise I'll keep it safe, Tina.”

He patted his pants leg and rose petals fell from his the bottom of his trousers. “This guy's a magician,” Geoff whispered and Michael could only nod in agreement, awed as the Rose Vigilante prepared his exit.

“You will not have this deed, Mayor!” he yelled, leaping into the air and grabbing the second story sill of the Orphanage.

The Mayor fumed and the Rose Vigilante continued to climb up the front in graceful leaps and bounds. The Mayor yelled something incoherent and suddenly an arrow cut through the air, hitting the target that was the Rose Vigilante's shoulder. He grunted in pain and clutching his joint tenderly. Several of the children whimpered and screamed in horror as their hero disappeared behind the building with the injury.

“He's injured! Find him!” several people shouted in several different ways.

Michael and Geoff exchanged glances and then thoughts. Without a second too late, Michael and Geoff sprinted out of the crowd down an alley along the orphanage. The guards attempted to climb the ladders after the vigilante but both men were confident the masked man was smarter than that.

They rounded a corner and stopped when they reached an intersection of alleyways. Both males stopped to look for the vigilante, praying he had come down before he was found by the guards. The guards had made no instant progress, yelling back and forth if anyone had found him.

“There!” Geoff shouted suddenly and Michael jumped, visibly startled by the sudden shout. Geoff had already sprinted down one of the alleys to a crumbled figure on the ground and was soon joined by Michael. “He's unconscious.”

The traveler looked up at the rooftops, searching for any guards that may find them. Deeming it safe, he nodded to Geoff. “Pick him up.” Geoff wrapped his arms under the masked man's shoulders, careful about the arrow sticking out of the joint. Michael picked up the shins and the duo awkwardly walked along the alley, trying every back door as they walked.

Once, a guard jumped over the gap between two buildings and both men stopped, holding their breath. The guard turned around, looking back over the gap he had just jumped, but did not look down. He continued along the rooftop until he was out of sight and the men deemed it safe to breathe again.

Finally, Geoff found a door that was unlocked and he swung it wide open. He peered into the darkness, searching for any sign of movement. The room was still and dark, the windows boarded up from the inside. The heavily-armored man nodded once and begun to carry the masked vigilante into the room.

Their footsteps disturbed the dust that had been settling on the ground and the smell of mold and musk was almost visible in the thick air. Michael set down the man's legs and walked to the vigilante's side, holding him up so he wouldn't fall onto the arrow protruding from his shoulder. Geoff moved to the couch and flipped over all the cushions so there was less dust than before, then they placed the man on the couch, leaning up again against the arm so it did not disturbed the arrow.

Michael returned to the door to watch for any guards, then quietly shut it. He listened closely for any footsteps, securing the back door while Geoff tended to the vigilante's wound. It felt as though an eternity had passed before Geoff was able to lay the masked man on the couch properly with a bandage from a pack he carried underneath all his armor. “He'll be fine,” he said.

They spent the afternoon in the dusty building. Michael had guessed it had been a home before, but condemned for whatever reason. Sometimes he saw rats, other times he thought it had been ghosts, but he knew he was smart enough to know that he was just beginning to see shadows in the dusty air.

Several hours passed and the voices of the guards seemed to have finally faded. Geoff had removed most of his heavy armor by this point and he seemed much smaller without it. He had fallen asleep in one of the old loveseats, which was clearly too small for the large man.

Michael sighed and slouched against the wall beside the door. The padded chairs nor loveseats were comfortable enough for him. Sleeping on the floor felt somewhat familiar, leaning his diamond sword against his shoulder. During the hard days of his travels, unable to find a bed or an inn to stay at, he would rest his back against smooth stone or a cave wall and rest lightly until morning.

This was not as comfy as his bed back home, but he didn't mind. He shut his eyes and rested his head against his sheathe. It took only moments before he was taken over by a dreamless sleep.

…

Metal rubbed against metal and Michael's eyes fluttered open to a pitch black room. Night had fallen, though it was difficult to tell how late it was into the night. Slowly, his vision focused and he instantly was drawn to the pointed tip of a blade only inches from his nose.

A shot of adrenaline woke him suddenly, purely, and his eyes followed the blade up to the holder; the Rose Vigilante. Michael looked down to his shoulder and grabbed the sheath of his diamond sword, only there was no longer a blade in it's place. Michael moved instantly to stand, but the vigilante kicked him back down again, keeping his heel on Michael's stomach.

The look of distrust was evident on the man's face, even with eyes hidden behind the white mask. “Who are you?” he demanded, voice deep and condescending.

Michael frowned, but found himself with little choice, despite the irritation that was expressed greatly on his face. “Michael,” he snapped in a reply. “Don't tell me this is how you thank people for saving your ass.”

There was a pause, the Rose Vigilante contemplating his options. Slowly, he removed his foot from Michael's abdomen and lowered the sword, which Michael recognized as his own. The vigilante threw the sword in the air and caught it by the blade, then offering the handle to Michael. Michael took his sword and sheathed it as the vigilante offered a hand to help the man get to his feet.

Standing on his own instead, Michael threw the diamond sword over his back and tied the sheathe at the front. “Good to see your up and walking around.”

“Thanks to you and your friend.”

Michael's eyes fell to the loveseat Geoff had been sleeping earlier but found him missing. The vigilante retreated back to the sofa again. The traveler settled for the chair by the boarded window, listening quietly for anyone passing by the window, peering out through the boards. The city seemed empty mostly, and boring, but he kept his eyes out into the dark. By this time, allergies were beginning to settle in. His eyes and pallet itched, and the vigilante sniffled and scratched at his nose.

Several awkward minutes passed and the door to the abandoned house was opened, revealing Geoff with a thin loaf of bread and what smelled like cheese from the bag. The vigilante jumped to his feet and Michael waved for him to sit. “Relax. It's just Geoff.”

Instantly, the vigilante relaxed and fell back into his seating place. Geoff, dressed in normal clothes, smiled at the masked man and sat down on the love seat, setting the bread loaf and the bag of cheeses on the table. “We don't have any plates, so you'll have to settle for just using your hands.”

He pulled the loaf out of it's package and broke apart pieces of equal size. He handed everyone a piece of bread and pulled out two thick slices from a cheddar wheel for each person. Once everyone was given food, they ate in silence. Michael was hungrier than he thought, scarfing down the cheese and bread, trying to remember how long it had been since he had eaten last – perhaps the previous morning before he had ventured off to the Pyro's Cave in search of the rumoured scripture. The vigilante seemed equally as starved, having ate both his slices of cheddar and three more pieces of bread.

Michael did not eat anymore than what he was given, simply because he felt the healing young man required more food. Geoff also seemed to limit what he ate until the vigilante was full, then broke off several more pieces of bread for himself and offered the last bit to Michael, who denied the offer and told Geoff to eat the rest.

Silence befell the three men again, though it didn't last long. “Thank you.” Michael and Geoff looked up at the vigilante, whose eyes were cast to the ground. “If it hadn't been for you, the deed would have been lost.”

“Or you dead,” Geoff added casually.

The Rose Vigilante sighed.

Michael pursed his lips together, then leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “What the hell was that whole thing about, anyway?” Although he had a clear idea of what was going on, he needed confirmation of his suspicions.

“The Mayor wants to tear down the Orphanage and put an armory in it's place.” Michael noted the vigilante's voice seemed to heighten in pitch and he spoke with a more relaxed tone, with contractions and lazy English like a normal person would.

Geoff shook his head and leaned back against the loveseat. “Why is it always the Orphanage?”

“Tina - she runs the Orphanage - lost her job recently at the brewery and has been having trouble finding work. She isn't able to keep up with the tax and, by law, if she can't pay tax on the building, then she has to pass the deed over to the Mayor. On top of that, the number of mobs has increased and we've been having trouble fighting them, so everyone's freaking out that the creepers will get in and blow us all up. Honestly, the people of the city believe that sacrificing the Orphanage for the armory is in the best interest for the city. We need an armory to help defend the city. Our Mayor _sucks_. I never liked him to begin with, and taking away the Orphanage is the last straw, but...”

The vigilante seemed haunted for a moment, then Geoff leaned forward, reading his thoughts. “If the armory isn't built, then it could mean the destruction of the city.” The vigilante nodded. “Touch choice.”

There was a moment of heavy silence. A choice between the children and the city, it seemed, though, “Couldn't they just build the armory somewhere else?”

The vigilante stood up suddenly, arms open. “That's what I said! But the jackass won't listen.”

Geoff nodded, as though a plan was beginning to form in his mind. Michael scanned the masked man again, then back at Geoff. The older man was staring back, a cocked eyebrow. A silent question of morals, he knew. Michael shut his eyes and sighed. Did he had much of a choice? He stood with the vigilante, crossing his arms. “Fine. We'll help you out.”

The vigilante was surprised, to say the least, and a gratuitous smile formed on his lips. “What? Really? You'll help me?” Michael gave only a grunt in response and stuck a his pinky into his ear, mostly because he needed some kind of action to hide the 'good feeling of helping others' upon seeing this vigilante like this. “I really appreciate this.” The vigilante reached up and placed his hands on his mask. “I should introduce myself. My name, er... Well, my superhero name – as some call it, I guess – is X-Ray, but my friends,” he removed his mask to reveal two brown eyes and a young man. “just call me Ray.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, a new person has joined the fray. I really hope I'm doing my characterization alright. Advice anyone? I'm kinda just wandering around lost here.


	4. The Guys Save the Day (But Not the Orphanage)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I meant to upload this yesterday but I ran out of time. Also, this chapter is long as hell, but I really wanted to have this all in one chapter, but I got carried away. Whoops! This is the longest chapter I have ever written.
> 
> On with the story!

Ray had stripped down his some casual, basic clothes, shoving his superhero alternate into the bag that formerly held the cheese wheel. “You guys are welcome to stay at my place, if you want,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Did the guards see your faces at all?”

Geoff shook his head. “Not that we know of.”

The vigilante nodded then adjusted the weight in his arms. “Later on this week, there's a banquet,” he began as the trio looked over the abandoned room once more to search for anything that was missing. “The Mayor will be there. That's when we'll strike.” They started towards the door when Ray stopped again and looked back at them. “And you'll probably want your own superhero names. Just saying.”

Michael rolled this thought over in his mind then smirked. “Got it.”

Geoff opened the door and the three men left through the back alley they had originally entered. Geoff left the door open to shut on it's own as they left. As they walked away, two eyes peered around the door, catching it just before it shut. Having overheard their conversation, a plan came to mind, and the mysterious figure – almost not more than a shadow – smirked to itself as it crept into the room and the door shut quietly behind him.

…

The sun introduced a new day to the city they had come to learn as Diaz. The hustle and bustle and whispers of the previous day's antics had already been passed from all lips to all ears before the sun had even fully risen above the horizon. No one seemed to remember Michael or Geoff and it was safe to say their identities were kept for the moment. Each man dressed down to fit into the crowd so no one could suspect new strangers with the to-be new faces of the forming vigilante trio.

When the sun reached it's highest peak, the trio decided to enter the city and examine their target area before the banquet that was in the following two days. Ray lead the two men to the city hall, in which the area was already being set up for the banquet.

The banquet was to be held outdoors and the area was surrounded by tall buildings on either side. Michael had the guts to compare it to a courtyard that would be of a typical castle. There was a gate at the front to locked out commoners once the banquet began, but it would be easy to get into the courtyard from the top of the tall buildings, which Michael felt would be easy enough for him and Ray to climb – Geoff not so easy for his armor would made it difficult.

Servants ran back and forth, pushing tables into place, chairs. Jesters rehearsed songs, performers practiced in the shade. Some of the working class stopped in watch and the beggars stayed. Michael noted several places he could jump down safely without injury. What was it they planned to do anyway?

He turned to Ray but his eyes were on the gold and red chair the Mayor would take at the end of the table, his gaze off somewhere else. There was a moment of silence before Geoff finally spoke, “What are we going to do?”

Ray returned from wherever his mind had gone and turned to the other. “We're going to force the Mayor to give up his chase for the deed.” His voice was deep again, this time tainted with an untrained anger. “We'll tell him to put the armory elsewhere.”

There was an uneasiness in what Ray had said, Michael and Geoff exchanging unsure glances. “We'll have to find someplace for the armory to go,” the warrior suggested then. Michael nodded in agreement.

Ray was silent for a moment, then he shook his head. “Can I leave that to you, Geoff?”

Geoff nodded. Michael wondered how the hell Geoff was going to be able to find someplace suitable for the armory, barely knowing the city.. He supposed if Ray had faith in Geoff for the job he was given, Michael couldn't see why he couldn't offer his trust as well.

The warrior nodded again, then started off away from them, beginning his job. Perhaps he thought he had more work cut out for him than what might have been, or he just wanted to get it out of the way as quick as possible.

Michael turned back to the vigilante, who was again lost in thought. Sighing, he rolled his eyes and turned down the street to his right – the street that was the home of the Orphanage. He had only made a few paces before Ray caught up with him and they walked side by side in silence.

The traveler's gaze wandered off to one side, noting the boarded windows of the abandoned house they had retreated to when Ray was injured. Something glinted in between the boards, a light flashing once, and Michael jumped into Ray, startled. “What the hell!?” the vigilante snapped and Michael retreated quietly, caught in between two surprises; a mysterious light and Ray's sudden anger.

The vigilante seemed so composed before, and now it seemed to have disappeared with the mask.

 _Tiffany's Orphanage_ appeared on the left, children playing in the streets in the front. They avoided the paths of the adults and chased dogs in and out of the alleys. One child spotted them from the distance and began to shout, running towards them.

Ray's glazed over expression disappeared and thus returned the light Michael had been introduced with. The vigilante grinned and ran over to the child, a little girl, and picked her up in his arms. It wasn't long before he was surrounded by orphans who wanted to play with him.

Michael could only watch for so long before he started to feel something, an old feeling, and he looked away. He was fighting for these kids now. He didn't have time to worry about something that didn't exist anymore.

Movement drew his eye and he was met with the pretty figure of the young woman from the previous night, Tina. Dark circles brought out the blue in her eyes. If she was the only caretaker for these children, then he understood. She seemed about his age, maybe even younger, and her gaze was focused on him, though her attention darted to Ray and the orphans as she drew close.

“Are you new here?” was her first question.

Perhaps it was more obvious he was stranger than he and Geoff had been hoping. “Yeah,” was his curt reply, though he hadn't intended to sound so cold. So he added, “I am.”

“I saw you in the crowd yesterday.”

Michael said nothing in reply. He wasn't exactly the best at social interactions and just preferred to stay silent. At first, he could not think of anything to say to her, then all at once, a thousand questions came to mind. “Tina, right?” The woman nodded, choosing to stay quiet this time. He glanced at the sign. “So who's Tiffany?”

Tina smiled, then gestured he follow her into the Orphanage. There was a shout and Ray was running from the children who chased him and the dogs with sticks. Michael smirked a bit then followed Tina into the Orphanage.

The inside looked prettier than he expected. While gold and brown seemed to be the dominate colours, the place seemed welcoming and the array of colours kept it all playful and kind. Tina took a seat on one of the sofas and Michael sat across from her on a loveseat. He didn't need to ask the question again. “Tiffany was my grandmother,” she said quietly. “It was several decades ago she started up the Orphanage. She and my mother used to run it together, before my mother was taken by a creeper.” Michael almost mumbled an apology but Tina was talking again before he could even draw the breath. “I was raised in the Orphanage by my grandmother, with a few other children, including Ray.” He was instantly interested in this information. “What's your name?”

“Michael... Jones.”

“Michael.” She stared at him, then her gaze dropped. “I know who Ray is. I mean, it's sort of obvious.” She chuckled. “X-Ray... That's what me and the kids in the Orphanage used to call him. I think he wanted us to know it was him.”

“This place is his home,” Michael concluded quietly. “That's why he's so interested in protecting the Orphanage.”

Tina smiled. “Even in dark times, there are people who still care. Thank you, Michael, but this isn't a battle you have to fight. You can leave if you like.”

He scoffed. “Fuck that. Geoff and I already agreed to help out.” Besides, he wished someone had been there when he lost his home. “You can count on us. We'll save the Orphanage.”

And the city, too, perhaps.

…

Geoff had made his way to a less inhabited part of the city. As important as it was to save the Orphanage, Geoff could see that opening the armory was a brilliant idea. The city needed jobs for the beggars and the workless, and he could see that there was a shortage of guards.

Already, he had single-handedly chased down two thieves and caught a pickpocket. And yet, there seemed to be no guard in sight by this time. He wondered if all the guards were sitting at the banquet table, but he doubted it so for he still came across the occasional guard.

As he walked, he came across several abandoned warehouses that were somewhat inhabited by veteran guards who lost limbs against creepers and zombies, and beggars who simply could not work for whatever reason.

His gaze fell up a warehouse that seemed to be mostly uninhabited and no longer needed. He noted the position of the warehouse, though it was a sketchy distance from the city. Why did this city have so many abandoned buildings and no apparent room for an armory?

Geoff sighed and scratched the back of his head, preparing to leave when he heard the babblings of an insane woman. At first, the babblings seemed incoherent and uninteresting, then a string of words brought his attention; “Gol-...Golden Wish Tower...”

He looked around for the woman, listening hard to the whisperings for a direction to walk in. Slowly, he found a direction and he wandered over to metals sheets that stood up on a triangle, like a tent. Inhaling, he peered under the sheets, the words of the woman echoing off the metal. “Wish Tower... He wanted the Wish Tower...”

Geoff hesitated to speak but the woman spotted him before he could turn back. He stammered for a moment, then forced out, “Excuse me?”

“D-Do you seek the Golden Wish Tower?” She twitched as she spoke and her voice jerked in all pitches. “He saught the Tower. He said, he said the Tower would save us. He said he would be... _back_ .” She paused, then spoke a little quicker. “He also said he loved me, but we _all_ know that was a, a damn lie.” She burst into laughter, not taking her gaze off Geoff for a moment. “He will get the Tower, boy. You should turn _back_.” Again, she found solace in the pause before speaking quickly. “Or he's dead, I don't really know.”

Geoff debated leaving the woman to her ramblings, but he decided against it. “Who is 'he'?”

“My husband,” was the short answer. “Could I call him that? He was always cheating on me, he was. So sly, he thought he was. He thought I didn't know, but I did. I knew very well, very well. He said, I love you, darling. I love you, Helga. I will be home, Helga. He said all that. But is he here? I see him _not_ . I tell them all of the Golden Wish Tower, but do they believe me? Ha!” Suddenly, her laughter died and she seemed sad suddenly, almost sane again. “I don't want money. I don't want wishes. I want him back...” Then she burst into laughter again and huddled herself close. “ _Many black stones rest when the greatest elements met_ , he said. _But only one begins the Golden Wish Tower_ ; the Obsidian from the hammer of the Great Forger of the Overworld, Ajax.”

The name seemed to strike Geoff with an unnameable force. “Ajax?”

Helga nodded, nodded, nodded viciously. With fire in her eyes, she took to glaring at Geoff. She was angry for a moment, then she burst into tears. He felt pity for the woman, who's husband had left her for a myth. Her story struck a cord with him and he almost cried with her. “They don't believe me,” she sobbed. “They won't look for him. They say he's crazy. That he is absolutely insane.” Her sobs began to silent and her eyes were cast to the ground. Geoff hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward to get a better view of her face; she was smiling. “But they haven't met me yet.”

Geoff wanted to ask more questions, but Helga retreated back into the darkness of her tent. “Leave me,” she whispered and Geoff was compelled to comply. He backed away from the metal sheets, then turned and hurried down the sketchy street that lead him back to the city, leaving the insane woman to her self-ramblings that he came to realize were really prayers and the insane woman was not insane after all.

…

The two nights passed quickly. They had come to met who the real Ray was, and Michael had come to like him. He was quite a comedian and seemed to enjoy sexual innuendos when not in the presence of women.

Michael noticed the anxiety in his eyes, the fear of losing something that meant so much to him, and yet remained so composed under all the stress. There was so much to lose and such little time now to change the plan.

Both Ray and Geoff were oddly quietly as they suited up for their first appearance as the Vigilantes of Diaz. Michael found it rather disturbing, though he understood why Ray was so quiet. Geoff, however, had been deep in thought since he returned from his search for a building to replace the armory.

“Do you know anything about the Great Forger, Ajax?” Geoff asked as Michael helped him up the side of the courtyard building. The banquet had already started. The scent of food wafted through the air gently, though strongly. They had passed the Orphanage before they arrived at that banquet. Tina smiled gently at them, the Orphanage strangely silent. They even passed the abandoned house that seemed to be not abandoned anymore, lit up with lights from the inside of frosted windows.

They had come up from the alleys and it proved difficult to climb up the ladders up the multistory buildings that seemed to stretch much on higher than Michael would have liked. “Yeah,” he said as he hauled Geoff and his heavy armor up onto the roof. Geoff had hide himself under his heavy armor and Michael wondered how he planned to do anything in such a heavy suit of armor. He himself just remained in his usual attire of a brown bear hat and a hoodie to match. “He was a myth my mother used to tell me before bed.”

Michael knelt down at the edge of the building, peering down at the banquet. The sun had set now and the lamps were lit with fires. Across from them, Ray stood atop the other building, then gave a signal. Michael nodded and turned to Geoff. “Are you ready?”

Geoff nodded, the helmet clunking with the motion. Michael returned the signal and all three vigilante's stood. At first no one noticed, so Ray spoke up. “Mayor of Diaz.” Even though he had been merely speaking, his voice carried over the crowd and earned all the attention he wanted.

The banquet was blanketed with a hush and the Mayor stood. “Why, if it isn't our dear friend, X-Ray!” His eyes darted over to Michael and Geoff, although he didn't seem to remember them at all. “And friends?”

“I am Mogar,” Michael announced awkwardly, trying to mimic X-Ray's confidence and strength in his voice, though he felt like he could just as easily be see through. He expected someone to shout, 'The hell, aren't you Michael?' but it never came and so he continued. “And this is the, uh... Man of Steel.”

The Mayor obviously found this quite amusing and he laughed. He opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by a fourth and final voice.

“And I'm– I am Vav!”

Everyone craned their necked to look up at the lone figure standing on the highest peak behind the Mayor. At first he was almost invisible, then he leapt from the peak down to the building top of Ray's side.

Green cape fluttering in the wind, form almost perfect for landing – Michael would have admitted the new vigilante looked kinda cool, but as soon as he hit the roof, he stumbled and hit the ground with a loud, “ _Whuh_!” which Michael recognized instantly.

“You have _got_ to be fucking kidding me...” he mumbled to himself, his palm pressing against his face.

Vav jumped up to his feet and dusted himself off. His creeper-like attire was a dead give away, despite the sunshades he wore now to disguise his identity. He adjusted himself, brushing off his pants, then waved to the Mayor when he was met with awkward silence. “Hello.”

Ray shook his head and couldn't even bring himself to look at the new vigilante, if he could be called that, and the Mayor burst into laughter. “What's this, we have a ragtag team of 'heroes'?” His belly shook as he laughed and Michael rolled his eyes, sighing with the lack of seriousness anyone was taking. “It doesn't matter. One or four, I will have you all arrested.”

All four vigilantes stiffened at that comment. “X-Ray, if you could please hand me over the deed, I would much appreciate it. Or, I will just go ahead and tear down the Orphanage, anyway.”

“I won't let you.”

“ _We_ won't let you!” Geoff had finally thrown in his own two cents into the fray but no one could hear him through the helmet except for Ray, who smiled appreciatively.

The Mayor shook his head. “Understand, X-Ray and... _friends_ ,” He threw an awkward glance at Vav. “that I've been expecting you.” At least he was expecting X-Ray. The click of a crossbow seemed so loud suddenly. All four vigilantes moved instantly, based purely on their instincts, each in their own direction to avoid a flurry of arrows that appeared suddenly from behind them from the guards that had hidden themselves in the darkness on rooftops not far from the courtyard. X-Ray and Vav ended up diving into each other instead of out of the way like they should have.

“Sorry, lad,” was the rushed apology and Vav pulled the Rose Vigilante to his feet. “Watch your back, yeah?” Without a moment to spare, Vav whipped out a diamond bow (earning a snarl from Michael) and trained three arrows on one string, searching for the guards who had fired the crossbows at them.

“Shoot to injure, not to kill!” Ray shouted, whipping out a stone dagger. Michael and Geoff already had their weapons drawn and peering over the edge as the guards were beginning to climb up the side of the buildings. Vav nodded and fired off the arrows.

Ray turned his attention from the guards, entrusting Vav to cover that side of the building until everything was sorted out. Michael walked to the ladder and kicked the first guard to poke his head up over the roof. The guard fell backward and fell the many stories to the ground. He silently prayed the man would be okay, but now it didn't seem like such a long drop.

“Mi-, Mogar!” the Man of Steel snapped as Michael backed away from the ledge.

“Sorry, I thought it wouldn't be that bad...” But they had to care for the guards and simply incapacitate them. Diaz didn't need to lose more guards than they already had.

They began to climb up over the edge and Geoff and Michael had their backs to the ledge, holding up their weapons in a preparation to fight. There were more guards than Michael was expecting, though he kept a straight face for the moment.

Ray leapt down from the building and landed on the banquet table unsteadily. The Mayor panicked for a moment, then yelled for his ground guards to attack the vigilante. He stood up on the table, his clothes already decorated with cherry pie and gravy sauce, and began an assault in a fury of spins and kicks, deflecting gold swords with his stone knife. The guards were all sloppy in their attacks and took turns, afraid to deliver or take friendly fire.

Two guards on either side of Ray lifted their swords and charged. They did not go unnoticed for they yelled as they charged and Ray was left with only seconds to decide how to avoid the mess. He decided to duck and roll forward and the guards ran into each other.

The stone dagger was only used for minor cuts on arms and legs, and Ray's two fists served useful for knocking the consciousness from the men that attacked him, slowly dropping the number of men to fight. His skill shone, having taken down so many – though was there really that many to begin with, or did they just keep getting up?

For several moments, it seemed to remain this way. For the first time, Michael was thankful that the city guard had been low on men to begin with. He stole a moment to peer down at Ray, who had knocked a guard back along the long table, knocking all the prepared food onto the laps of wealthy ladies and gentlemen.

“ _Michael!_ ”

He whipped around suddenly, although it was too late. In a flash of gold, a sword cut through the fabrics of his hoodie and threw him backward. Time seemed to slow and he could see his blood staining the golden blade, droplets falling onto the guard's face and his own. He found no voice to cry at first, simply stumbling backward until he ran out of roof and began to plummet the several stories to what seemed like certain death.

It was in that moment the buildings were now at their highest.

He prayed his consciousness would fade before he hit the ground and prepared for the worst. Before his eyes shut, there was a flash of green, and then his consciousness was gone.

Ray whipped around upon hearing Geoff's mighty cry for his friend who had begun to fall to his death. If he hadn't tripped over a bowl of hot cranberry, he would have made it in time to catch Michael. However, it wasn't him who caught the traveler.

He blinked and Vav had seemed to move so quickly, catching the falling body in his arms and landing safely on his feet without stumbling this time. He looked quickly once to Ray, then sprinted down a side alley and disappeared.

As much as X-Ray would have loved to follow them, he had his own problems to deal with. Spinning around, he met the furious eyes of the Mayor. All the guards had backed off by this point, most having been injured by Ray's stone dagger, although Geoff was still atop one of the building, fending off the guards that seemed relentless in their onslaught against them. He aimed lethallessly, only cutting limbs and appendages enough to force the guards to retreat, though he feared it could only last him so long.

“Listen,” Ray shouted, praying his voice would be loud enough and he could stop the onslaught before Geoff was hurt. “there's a thousand other buildings you can turn into an armory, Mayor! You don't need to rid the Orphanage to place it!”

The Mayor rolled his eyes then and shook his head. “Stupid boy,” he mumbled. “The oil and water only runs through certain parts of the city! Once the mobs had destroyed those pipelines, we couldn't fix them faster than they were destroyed again. Many a men was lost trying to rebuild it, but it was without avail. You understand how important all the business are for the economy, but the Orphanage produces no money.”

Ray paused then narrowed his eyes, concluding the reason all the buildings on the one side of the city had been abandoned: no oil or water - or any resources, really - could be collected to keep the warehouses running and thus shut down.

“The Orphanage is the only option to place the armory. God knows I try.”

Ray's jaw tightened and he balled his fists. “You're an idiot!” he snapped. “You can't tear down the Orphanage! It's inhumane!”

“Would you rather a city for the children to live in, or a temporary home that will be taken by the creepers in a matter of months?” Ray was quietly instantly, realizing how badly a losing battle this was. How badly he wanted to fight, but... There was no way this could be better? Couldn't they take out the bakery or the tailor's store? It was then he realized how small their city really was.

Before anymore words were spoken, Vav made an appearance, much different from his last. He simply came out of one of the alleys behind the Mayor, walking at a normal pace to stand beside him. The Mayor jumped, trying to gain some distance between him and the vigilante, when he noticed a rolled up piece of paper in Vav's hand extended out to him. The green vigilante spoke no words.

Ray paused for a moment, then reached down his sleeve to search for the deed – _which was not there_.

“God!” he screamed, stepping forward. “Vav, you didn't! How did you--”

“I stole it,” came the reply as though he were explain simple math. Gavin was a thief, after all. Stealing was his best skill and his opportunity opened up when he helped Ray to his feet after crashing into him.

The Mayor was hesitant, then he reached out and grabbed the bill out of Vav's hands, laughing triumphantly. He gripped the deed so tightly, the paper crumpled, but it didn't matter anymore. “The building is mine!” Ray was shocked into silence. By this time, even the guards had backed down from their onslaught on Geoff, who had run out of roof and was incredibly thankful the battle had ceased, though not in his favour.

Silence overthrew the crowd and even the high class seemed disappointed with the outcome of the battle. Ray shook his head, shutting his eyes tightly. “You traitorous _bitch_!”

“You should get out of here,” Vav replied calmly. “before the guards get you.” With that, he turned on his heel and returned to the alley. Ray attempted to follow him but the remained of the guards stepped before the alley and blocked his way. A reward to Vav for helping the Mayor. Left with no choice, Ray unleashed a cry of frustration and turned to sprint up the side of the building, disappearing into the darkness.

Geoff looked to the guards, then leapt off the building, landing hard into the cobblestone of the courtyard. He produced such a sound, a nearby wealthy woman screamed with surprise. Taking one last look to the crowd, expression hidden behind his helmet, ran out the front gates and made a hard left, also taking an exit into the alleyways.

…

Michael awoke to the sound of children laughing. At first, he could not remember what had happened. A sharp pain shot across his chest and his body jolted, groaning. He laid still for a moment, simply taking in ridged breaths.

Several seconds passed. His head was lifted and a cup of hot tea was brought to his lips ever so gently. He sipped the tea, which was soothing on his sore throat, and took away the pain for a short while. It tasted of chocolate and mint. “Rest,” a woman spoke, riddled with age and wisdom.

Instead of doing as he was told, Michael opened his eyes and met with the warming gaze of an old woman, who seemed genuinely kind. “Tiffany,” he whispered, acknowledging the woman at once. The old woman smiled and patted his head gently.

His eyes darted around the room, taking in the colours. He recognized this room. He had been here before, when he was helping Ray recover from his shoulder wound. The walls had been freshly painted, the cobwebs and dust brushed away. The windows had been replaced with frosted glass, _Tina's Orphanage_ painted on the right side of the panes.

Torches lit the room barely, but enough to see the rest of the room and the door that lead out to the room where the children were playing hand games. While unfurnished, it was more livable than what it had been before. Slowly, Michael smiled.

“Don't worry about the Orphanage,” she said slowly, lowering his head back onto the bed. “The green hero told me that if they could not move the armory, then we would move the Orphanage.”

Michael opened his mouth to ask her more about the green hero and what he had said, but his consciousness faded into darkness and sleep overtook him for another dreamless night.


	5. The Guys Find Someone Who Can Read

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a crappy chapter. How to write action, I don't know. I tried looking up some tips but it didn't really help. Oh, well!
> 
> On with the story!

Morning broke over the horizon and Michael woke to a gentle shaking of the shoulder from Geoff. “Hey, lad, you ready to go?”

It had been only a few days since the deed for the building had been passed to the Mayor via Vav aka Gavin the Thief. Michael spoke with Ray about the man that had fucked everything up for them, although Ray seemed to hold no malice towards the green-dressed man. “I guess everything worked out, really,” was all he had to say.

It didn't keep Ray from watching the old building of the Orphanage being torn down with sorrow in his eyes and heaviness in his heart. Although, the new Orphanage, _Tina's Orphanage_ , could almost be considered in better condition than the old building.

Michael and Ray recovered from their injuries quite nicely. Ray had reopened his shoulder wound in the fray and Tiffany and Tina gladly took to tending to his injuries, although he received a good earlashing from the latter.

While the gash across Michael's chest still ached, he was more than ready to move on from Diaz. He forced himself to a stand and dressed himself for the journey ahead of them. He slung his diamond sword over his back and tied the sheathe in the front. Geoff removed his helmet and carried it at his hip. It was no longer a secret who the vigilantes were, but no one made any accusation and the Mayor did not pursue them.

This Michael was grateful for.

“Hey, hold on.” Geoff and Michael stood at the gate of Diaz, but only Michael had heard the comment. He stopped and looked back for the voice and when Geoff realized Michael had fallen back, he too turned. With a sack slung over his shoulder, Ray approached, rubbing his jawline.

Michael glanced between the sack and Ray, then he folded his arms and snorted. “What, you wanna come, too?”

“If it's not a problem,” the former vigilante replied.

Geoff returned to stand beside Michael and the three met before the gate. “Don't you have a city to look after?”

Ray offered a crooked smile. He had been thinking about it hard over the last few days. “No.” His voice was quiet. “Diaz doesn't need X-Ray. Not anymore.”

Michael sighed, then shrugged. “Whatever,” he mumbled, turning back to the gate and continuing on his path. “Your decision.” Ray smiled and trotted after the traveler. Geoff looked back once and spotted the Mayor standing by the inn, unsmiling. They met eyes and silent messages were sent and received. Geoff waved once and the Mayor returned it.

Then he turned and, with the lads, left the city of Diaz.

…

“The Hammer of Ajax is a mythological story about the Great Forger who slammed together some of the greatest weapons and armor in all of history in the Battle Against the Gods.”

It had taken Michael a good half hour to realized he had no idea where it was they were going and it was Ray who pipped up that he hadn't the slightest clue, either. Geoff explained that their goal was to find Ajax's Forgery but he didn't know enough of Ajax or the myth to be able to place where exactly they should begin looking.

Michael took the liberty of telling them the story his mother would tell him as the moon rose and the walls were braced for any mob attacks. “He started out as some kid with some serious talent. His dad was a blacksmith and taught Ajax so he could grow up to take over the family business. Uh, the kid became super well known for his weapons and when the Battle Against the Gods started ('nother long story) the King of whatever – I forget the name of the town – voluntold him to make the weapons and shit. And so, the King made him this giant forgery hidden off somewhere so the Gods couldn't find him and the battle was won because of his great forgery. Good story. Lot of famous myths come from the Battle Against the Gods, really.”

“Too bad you didn't have your mother's apparent silver tongue,” Ray mumbled and Michael shot him a warning glare.

Geoff ignored the two boys and checked a map he seemed to pull out of nowhere. Michael assumed the warrior bought it before he left Diaz, provided they needed to know where they were going. “So, we're heading for the Capital City. They have a wonderful library there with all the books and whatnot.”

“Yeah, library's are generally known for having books.” Ray paused. “And whatnot.”

He earned an eye roll from Geoff who folded the paper back up and placed it in an invisible pocket amidst his armor. “The Capital is a few days away, so we've got quite a trek ahead of us, lads.”

Michael didn't find this information distressing but Ray seemed a little unnerved. For the third time, the traveler was reminded that this was probably the farthest Ray had ever been from home and it was probably much more overwhelming than he thought.

Quietly, the trio carried on into the day, following a beaten path along between a grand valley and a mountain. Wolves ignored the survivors and ocelots darted into the shadows before they had even noticed them. Occasionally, they would stop to rest for an hour or so, devouring some buttered bread and a thin slice of meat or only a cup of milk.

The sun had reached the eight'o'clock point and it would be dark soon enough. “We'll stop for the night,” Geoff announced suddenly and neither male protested. They found a moist cavern to rest in and Michael shut most of the doorway with a few blocks of cobblestone.

The vigilante managed a fire as Geoff changed out of his heavy armor into more comfortable clothes for sleeping. Michael had plenty of experience in sleeping in dark caverns such as this, although Ray quite obviously wasn't adjusted to it yet. Geoff offered pointers on how to make the night rest more comfortable, such as laying down on spare clothes or other soft material.

Michael settled with resting his back against the wall with his sword against his shoulder, exactly as he had done at the abandoned house in Diaz. He rubbed his chest, gently brushing his fingers against the bandages. For a moment, he wondered how Ray's shoulder was fairing. He mumbled for Ray to be mindful of his shoulder during their sleep then drifted off into a dark slumber.

…

Ray was still asleep when Michael awoke. Geoff was tending to the fire, in which Michael began to realized how warm and dry it was beginning to feel in that cave. The traveler stole his first waking moments to peer out a hole he had left in the doorway to check for the sun. The sky was light but the morning orb hadn't risen yet.

“We're being followed,” Geoff mumbled quietly, poking the fire absent-mindedly with a thin stick.

“I know,” Michael replied. He knew someone had been following them since they arrived at Diaz. The green idiot's appearance made his suspicions all the more clearer.

Didn't thieves usually avoid the ones who knew they had stolen from them?

Michael pulled out his diamond sword and examined the mark he had made, as he did with all his weapons; a small star carved into the blade just by the hilt, with _Mogar_ written just underneath it. It was his own sort of symbol, he supposed, as it was all his stuff. He never planned to sell it though, so he wasn't sure why he even bothered.

He couldn't even remember when Mogar became a nickname for himself.

“Fucking idiot,” the warrior mumbled, referring to the thief, and Michael agreed.

...

Another long day passed and Ray complained once about how much they had walked and how little had happened since they left Diaz. Michael did admit to it being a rather uneventful journey and he tried to be thankful for the peace.

Yet, even he, like Ray, craved a little chaos. Little did he realized it would come in the form of a small inn. He stared at a pool of surface lava dejectedly, wondering where all that lava came from and if there were any monsters to fight there.

They hadn't gone three minutes since the lava pool before they spotted an inn in the distance. It wouldn't be dark anytime soon but Geoff made the comment that they might not be able to find another inn until they reached the Capital. Michael, although reluctantly, agreed they spend the night at the inn.

A bell chimed as they entered the inn and a tall, bearded man was standing at the desk, washing a mug despite it already appearing clean. He looked up from his dull job and a bright smile appeared almost instantly. “Good afternoon, travelers!” he greeted.

Geoff's first impression was instantly on the side of good while Michael found it quite annoying. Ray seemed to care little about the man behind the counter. “Good afternoon, innkeeper,” the warrior replied, resting a heavy-armored arm on the counter. “We're looking to spend the night.”

“Great, I've got three rooms.” And the innkeeper showed them to each of the rooms. They were all identical though Michael didn't care. Ray seemed pleased with a bed and Geoff seemed indifferent about the whole situation, just as Michael was. Beds were nice, but sometimes Michael just didn't care where or how he slept because it all felt the same to him anyway.

Later on in the evening, Ray dropped by Michael's room, who had taken to solace on his own. Isolation seemed to do him a world of good for whatever reason. It wasn't like he didn't like Ray or Geoff. He just felt introverted. A time to relax, even though it didn't really matter to him anyway.

“Hey, how much money do you got on you, by the way?”

The question, at first, seemed rude to the traveler. Who just went ahead and asked how much money they had? However, now that he was thinking about it, he didn't have _any_ money. He had lived off the land mostly and he forged his own weapons. Why would he possibly need money?

To pay the innkeeper, stupid. It had never even crossed his mind.

“I don't,” came Michael's final reply. Ray frowned a bit, then left the doorway, leaving Michael to wonder what he was supposed to do now.

He kicked his feet off over the side and made his way over the doorway, peering out into the main room where the innkeeper had offered some food to Geoff and Ray. “Wait, Ray. What?”

Ray looked up awkwardly, then at the innkeeper. “Yeah, we don't have any money.” The innkeeper looked between all three men. The former vigilante reached into his pocket and retrieved a handful of gold coins. “Well, we don't have _enough_ money...”

There was a moment of silence, then Michael retreated back into his room to fetch his diamond sword, preparing to leave. He returned to the main room just in time to hear Ray gasp a, “What, really?”

“It's not like I get that many customers, anyway,” the innkeeper replied, shrugging. “Besides, I can't send you out with the monster population the way it's been.”

Michael returned to his room and shut the door. However, he choose to sit against the wall beside the door and listen to the men in the main room.

“There's gotta be something we can do to pay off our debt,” Geoff insisted. He stood and his armor clinked with his movement.

The innkeeper sighed. “You don't have a debt, so don't worry about it.”

The warrior continued to insist on helping out with the inn and the innkeeper eventually caved, giving Geoff and Ray a small list of chores to complete. Geoff changed out of his armor into better working clothes and got to work quickly.

“Are you going to help?” Ray asked through the door, as though he could tell Michael had been listening.

The traveler grunted and stood, throwing his sword against the wall. “Fine,” he said, though he hadn't really been intending to leave unpaying, either.

The trio got to work on the chore list and Michael found a sort of comfort in having his mind preoccupied by the repetitive work of wiping down tables and chopping firewood. He and Ray worked on their own mostly, though they did talk over their jobs on occasion. Sometimes, his chest ached and he paused to rest a bit. Ray did the same with his shoulder, rubbing it awkwardly and they would rest together to make sure the other didn't overwork himself. Geoff entertained the innkeeper with the stories he and the lads had together so far in their search for the Golden Tower.

Geoff told him how he planned to go to the Capital to read for the location of Ajax's Forgery. The innkeeper asked if Geoff could read or write in the Old Language, to which the warrior replied no. “I guess all the myths would be written in the Old Language,” Geoff sighed. “I didn't think of that. I guess I could always ask the librarian.”

The innkeeper laughed and promised to teach Geoff some of the Old Language, or at least what he would need to know, before the trio left for the Capital.

Eventually, the topic of potions arose.

“None of you have any idea how to make potions, huh?” the innkeeper concluded as he and Geoff skinned the cow Michael had slaughtered with an iron sword. “How have you and the boys managed to get this far with their injuries?”

“It helps they weren't too fatal to begin with,” Geoff reached up under his shirt so he could scratch his face with the cloth while avoiding getting blood on his face. “and they spent a lot of time in Diaz recovering.”

The innkeeper shook his head and threw a steak into a bucket, retrieving another piece of cow to attend to. “But what are you going to do if one of you gets hurt in the wild? Searching for the Golden Tower isn't going to be an easy one.”

“I know.” Geoff was quite faithful in his abilities, having been a warrior who traveled lands for many years now. “We'll do fine.”

The innkeeper sighed but said nothing after that.

…

The inn had no other visitors than the four who remained in the main room for dinner. A free meal, as a thank you for helping with the chores at the inn. Michael and Ray tossed away their manners as they ate, although their praises of good food through full mouths seemed to even out the lack of mannerisms.

“So, Jack,” Geoff began as he cut his meat into a small square. “why did you start an inn all the way out here?”

The innkeeper, who was named Jack Pattillo as Ray and Michael learned, had been in the motion of picking up his cup. “The road between Diaz and the Capital is a long one,” he said. “A good friend of mine had been traveling the road when he was attacked and killed by a mob in the middle of the night. It was suggested that there be an inn to minimize the deaths. I thought it was a good idea, so I started my own business.” He took a sip of water. “It was a long time ago. Before I was an innkeeper, I was a potion-maker's apprentice. All the recipes were written in the Old Language, so I learned how to read it from my teacher. I had hoped to sell potions to Adventurers along the road but my potion stand broke last year. Damn creeper blew a hole in the side of my inn...” Jack shook his head and set his cup down. “What about you? Why did you decide to be--”

“A bloody mob is comin'!”

Everyone raised their heads from their dinner, looking to one another to see who had spoken, save for Michael who recognized the voice instantly. “That bastard's here!”

“Did he just say a mob was coming?”

No one hesitated to grab weapons and even Jack was prepared with two small, but deadly, battleaxes. The men ran outside to discover the voice was right. Several zombies and spiders began to crawl their way up the road, out of the forest, down from the sides of nearby mountains. Michael searched around for the owner of the voice but he was not in sight and thus was forced to keep his attention to the approaching mob.

“This isn't good,” Geoff mumbled, adjusting the giant battleaxe in his hands.

Ray scoffed. “You don't say.”

“Shut up and fight!” Michael didn't skip a beat after his shout, heading straight for the nearest zombie. He was shamed to admit that he was sort of aching for a good fight since he didn't get much of a chance back in Diaz. This would be his redeeming battle, he told himself. He swung his sword with enough force to knock back several zombies.

It didn't take long for the others to follow his lead. Geoff was the most weary of his advances, being without his usual heavy armor. Ray followed Michael's reckless lead and his time spent as a vigilante was shining through quite generously. It was Jack who surprised Michael the most. For being only an innkeeper and a potions student, he seemed very aware of the enemies around him.

Michael focused on his own task at hand. He cut down one zombie, then sliced the head off a spider. He cut down another zombie. Then another. And another. And it soon felt as though when he cut down one monster, another creature would appear in it's place. “The hell is this?!”

“Goddammit!” Geoff's yell, released upon being bit on the shoulder by a zombie, earned Jack's attention of the moment. The warrior threw the zombie aside and cut it down with his battleaxe. Jack whipped around upon sensing a presence and cleaned a zombie's skull in two from the jaw up. Geoff was impressed.

A small hissing caught the attention of all ears and Ray screamed a curse, diving away from the sound without actually knowing where it was coming from. Michael ignored it mostly. The creeper exploded close to the inn. The wooden walls crumbled down from the impact and the entire building tilted to once side, the wooden boards creaking.

And the battle continued.

Endless wave upon endless wave of zombies and spiders and creepers flooded the area and on the four men fought into the night. Slowly, they were beginning to sustain minor although painful injuries. They tried to keep together, though Michael was beginning to wander farther away with each strike. Once, Geoff nearly cleaved Ray in two but quick reflexes threw Ray out of danger before Geoff even realized he was about to hit someone on his side. Twice, Michael tripped over a corpse and hit the ground. (The first time, he got up on his own. The second involved a spider's mandibles too close to his face and Jack was the one to save him from the less than appetizing death.)

Spider's string stuck to clothes and white fluid that could be easily taken for zombie blood oozed down their skin, and it wasn't long before they're own blood stained their clothing. The moon hadn't even yet made it a quarter way across the sky.

“There's no end to them!” Jack yelled over the sound of battle.

Ray thrust his dagger through the heart of a spider and stepped back, panting heavily. There was no place to hide, now that the inn had been destroyed. They couldn't run; they were surrounded by enemies. Their only choice was to fight but it wouldn't be long before they were overrun.

“Fucking dammit!” Michael screamed, temporarily finding vigor in his bones and swinging left and right wildly. However, just as quickly as the burst of energy arrived, it disappeared and Michael was exhausted. He whipped around and brutalized a creeper before it had a chance to explode and he retreated back towards the inn to meet his teammates.

Their backs against the inn wall. Creepers exploded left and right, blinding and deafening the warriors as they continued to keep the mobs back. The mob had grown too thick now. The warriors were tired. Jack was beginning to count the mere minutes they had left before the end was upon them.

It seemed hours had passed, though it could have just as easily been mere minutes, and they had managed to push the mob back far enough away for them to catch their breathe. Yet, they still advanced. “This...is impossible,” Ray panted, slouched forward.

Michael stuck his sword in the ground and crouched to one knee, watching for any sudden movements, chest aching as he gasped for breathe. Geoff seemed to be the one in the best condition, the most seasoned and used to such battles, but even he seemed exhausted. Ray began to ramble as he swayed on his feet unsteadily. “Well, it was nice knowing you guys. We had a good run. I think we did pretty...pretty good for, uh... y'know, a... We didn't even make it to the next city. We suck.”

Michael rolled his eyes and forced himself back to stand as the mobs grew close again. He lifted his sword and trained the tip at his next intended target. He cursed the moon and prepared to sprint into battle again... when the creatures stopped advancing. The men hesitated as well, waiting, wondering why the mobs had stopped.

Spiders hissed and zombies groaned but they did not come closer. After a few moments, they slowly backed away, offering a good ten meters of space before stopping and watching the warriors from a safe distance.

The survivors all exchanged confused glances then Jack looked back in the inn and yelled, “Son of a bitch!”

When Michael turned, he had been expecting an Enderman or something else to fight but he was met with a hot wind...and lava. “The fucking hell!” he cried. Lava poured down the sides of the building, eating away quickly at the wood and all the materials inside.

“Aw, shit! My armor!” but Geoff made no attempt to run into the inn to retrieve it.

All the men could do was watch as the inn was slowly devoured by the lava. Several trees caught fire from the heat and burned as well. The mobs stayed back from the lava and watched with them.

While in shock, Michael did not miss the moving shadow across the roof of the inn. He glared at the figure and recognized the green pattern immediately. The traveler's jaw tightened on his lip and split the skin and a thin line of blood trickled down his chin. “Gavin,” he mumbled and the shadow disappeared.

…

The light from the lava and the inn lasted all the night and protected them from the mob that threatened them. Slowly, the sun rose over the horizon and all the monsters scattered into caves and forests to hide from it's burning light. The fight was now over and they could rest easy.

Nothing was spared from the lava's onslaught, though Geoff managed to salvage a breastplate from the ashes. While in bad condition, it would protect him from any pointed edging attempting on his heart.

Michael didn't tell the others of the green-dressed man he saw on their house. He felt telling Jack that someone had poured lava on his inn intentionally would be distressing, although after everything was said and done, Jack said, “It was for the best. It saved our lives.”

The traveler wasn't sure what to think by this point. Ray had said the same thing about _Tiffany's Orphanage_. Michael had yet to find a good thing about his bow being stolen.

“You should come with us, Jack.” Geoff sounded sort of eager about the idea of having Jack join them. Michael wondered if Geoff was tired of the company of conversationalless young people. Neither Michael nor Ray objected. Jack, now without a home, agreed to join them on their journey for the Golden Tower.

Jack threw all the food he could salvage into his bag. “If every day is going to be that exciting, I might need an energy potion.”

“You aren't _that_ old,” goaded Ray.

Michael laughed.


	6. Michael Doesn't Know What's Going On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /I/ don't even know what's going on...
> 
> On with the story!

The mobs had grown worse since the rumour of the Golden Tower began to circulate around the Overworld a year ago, but that was the absolute worst Michael had ever seen them. The aftermath of the battle had been brutal. They could not find a nearby river to bath in and they were all stuck in sticky string and dried blood on their clothes and skin. Most of their spare bandages had been used to treat the initial wounds and the lack of healing potions made their recovery all the more difficult.

Jack and Geoff seemed to talk non-stop and, despite having lost his home, Jack seemed quite cheerful with the turn of events. Michael tossed his gaze to the side to watch the scenery as they walked. He was sure that Gavin was somewhere, watching them from afar.

He scoffed and turned back in front of them. Ray looked at Michael to make sure he wasn't about to say anything, then returned to whatever thoughts he had been lost in beforehand.

Another day and night passed. They had slept half a day away on accident, having not rested at all on the night of the attack. Geoff made sure to dig a good enough cavern for them to sleep in (although Michael and Jack forced him to rest afterward for he was in the middle of nursing a sprained wrist) and they enforced the doorway greatly. They woke up to the sun already beginning it's decent into the west and already a whole day was wasted with waiting and resting. At least Ray was beginning to appear more comfortable with sleeping in the caverns.

By the fourth day, they had finally arrived at the Capital, which Jack thanked the Gods for because they had run out of food and bandages and the group was starving. They were prepared to make their first stop the store when Ray reminded them they had limited money, carried only by Ray and Jack. Even then, Jack did not make a lot of money to begin with.

Geoff groaned. “I'll just run a few errands for people, then,” Michael suggested as they entered the gates. He changed his mindset by thinking slightly repulsive things to kill his appetite. “Hold on.”

Even though he planned to do it alone, he was followed by the rest of them. They searched aimlessly, asked people at random, and kept their eye out for danger. However, they were unsuccessful and Geoff mumbled they would just have to kill something after they left for Ajax's Forgery.

So, the team headed for the library instead. Geoff removed his armor before entering to respect the quiet wishes of the librarian and shoved the damaged chestplate in a barrel just outside the door to retrieve later. Michael briefly wondered how it was Gavin survived while remaining out of sight from the men, but discarded the thought quickly. Ray echoed a very similar thought later on as they were searching through the books.

None of them had any idea how to read the Old Language save for Jack, who was raised on it. All the books written in the Old Language had been pushed to the far back right corner, abandoned and dusty without care. It was clear no one ever read these books.

Instead of standing back and allowing Jack to find the book on his own, Michael and Ray made annoyances of themselves by bringing him random books and asking if it was the right one. They both knew that this would just waste time more than anything, but it was still amusing.

“How about this one? What does it say, Jack?”

“It's not the right one! None of these are right! They're all about the weather. That one's an encyclopedia. That's another weather book, Ray. All those books on that shelf are about the weather! Stop picking from that shelf!”

There was no malice in their little game and it brought a chuckle to their lips, especially when Michael brought over a sex education book. Jack couldn't help himself not to read it and so flipped open to a random page and began to read out the disgusting details of sex in the Ancient Times, which earned a good holler from the rest of the group.

And a glare from the librarian.

The joke subsided when they discovered the mythology section and Jack began to sift through all the titles on the spines of the book. He pulled out a dusty old binder and brushed off the front. “This should be it,” he said, returning to a table all the rest of the group was sitting. Ray was dramatically reading a children's story aloud to Michael and unintentionally attracted kids.

Geoff scratched at a bandage on his cheek, watching the lads as Jack sat beside him. “That guy is worshiped by children no matter where he goes,” he mumbled, sounding distant.

“Jealous?” Jack joked, offering a small smile which Geoff returned. He opened the book and started on it's Table of Contents. “It's got everything from _Aaryn's Field_ to _Zvan and the Ogre_.” His lips pursed together in thought as he looked closely at all the myth titles. “All these stories are connected to the Battle Against the Gods.”

“Wow,” Geoff leaned over to look at the book. “ _Aaryn's Field_ was connected to that?”

“Yeah, the girl was, uh, what's-his-name's daughter. You know...”

“Jorhe?”

“Yeah!”

Suddenly, the library door burst open. Some of the children screamed in fright and Ray dropped his book. The librarian tried to hush the one who bust down the door but the clunking of several suits of armor was louder than her annoyed, “Shhh!”

Michael stood and all the children gathered behind him and Ray. “What--”

“Mogar!”

Michael visibly flinched, then raised an eyebrow. Did someone just address him as Mogar? He hadn't used that name at all, other than on his sign back home...and when he tried to help Ray save the Orphanage. “What?”

“You're under arrest!”

The traveler stood quietly for a moment, trying to understand the situation, but the guards gave him no chance. They grabbed him each by one arm and began to forcefully drag him along the ground. “What the--? Let me go!” Purposely, he censored himself in the presence of children. Geoff stood and Michael huffed, tossing a glance over to him. “I'll take care of this,” he mumbled and allowed the guards to drag him out the library.

The door shut behind them and all were left wondering what had just happened.

…

Michael liked believing that whatever was going on could be easily fixed with a short conversation, but he doubted that wouldn't be the case. Still, some Kings were kind and didn't brutally murder the innocent. Others didn't care if they slaughtered a few innocent people so long as their name was still in good hands. And a few didn't care about their name and just killed the people that didn't give them money.

And this King wore a kilt.

“Oh, you found him?”

Michael walked up the red carpet that led up to the throne. Everything was carved beautifully in chocolate brown wood and anything metal was decorated in golden paint. Even the castle seemed to have been built out of gold blocks. Knights were lined up in iron armor, holding various different weapons including staffs, spears, swords, battleaxes, and the archers with their bows stood up on a balcony above them.

He had never really been in the presence of a King before and he had wished it had been under better circumstances. He stopped when the guards did and stared up at the powerful man. “Hi,” he began awkwardly. "I think this is--" One of the guards jabbed the blunt end of his halberd between Michael's shoulder blades and kicked the back of his knee, forcing him to kneel. “Ow, what the hell!?”

The King seemed torn between allowing it and yelling at his guard but he ultimately said nothing. “You're Mogar, right?”

What, no fancy speak? Michael was a little disappointed he didn't speak like he expecting a King to, with fancy English and whatnot. At least Ray put a little effort in the way he spoke as X-Ray. “Yeah, I am,” he replied.

“Okay, then.” The King thought about it for a moment. He scratched the scruff on his chin and his gaze seemed to weigh a thousand pounds as it hit the floor. Michael debated whether or not he should ask what was going on and, as soon as he decided he would, the King looked up then nodded. “Kay, throw him into the dungeons.”

“Whoa, hold on! Wait, wait--”

But the knights had already begun dragging him away for whatever reason. The King looked a little worried for a moment, then the knights turned a corner and Michael couldn't see him anymore.

…

They didn't even let him stand to walk down the stairs and just dragged him down the steps sloppily. Michael began to wonder if this was some messed up joke. He hadn't a chance to think of who would pull such a stupid prank on him when they threw him in the jail cell and slammed the door. He slammed his shoulder into the moist cobblestone floor hard and slid a little farther than he should have. He opened his eyes to the darkness of his cell. He sat up then jumped to his feet, running to the door and shaking the bars. “Hello!” Michael yelled as they walked away. “Are you gonna answer my question or what!? … Fucking assholes!”

He kicked one of the bars, although gently because he didn't want to hurt himself, then rubbed the old injury on his chest. He had been careful in his struggling not to reopen any of his wounds, but his chest ached and now his leg did, too, because he accidentally kicked the wall a little hard on his way down when they confiscated his sword. He sighed and looked around the room, or at least what little firelight of the torches outside his cell would allow him to see. Cobwebs in the corners and chains hung from the walls for insane or dangerous prisoners. It was definitely not welcoming.

Grumbling to himself, he sat against the wall and drew up one knee to his chest, then decided to account for any of his injures in the event that he had injured himself further. Everything was aching by this point and he reminded it was only two nights ago he fought a massive mob for almost two hours. Some of the bandages began to come loose with his struggling, so he decided to dedicate a bit of time to fixing up himself back up again.

…

Several hours passed and Jack had read the same story, _The Hammer of Ajax_ , several times before he decided to read what else the book had to offer; _Aaryn's Field_ , _The Well of Knowledge_ , _Amber Gold_ , _Zvan and the Ogre_ , and even a variation of _The Hammer of Ajax_ in a different book, to which it only added there was a Obsidian Golemn that protected Ajax's Forgery since Ajax was a forger of Obsidian, Gold, and Diamond.

Ray continued to read aloud to the children until his throat was sore and he decided to stop. One child picked up a book, took Ray's former seat, and began reading to the children himself. When he reached a word he couldn't pronounce, the other kids would help him pronounce it. Eventually, the librarian joined them to teach them the words they did not know.

“I'm starting to think he's not coming back,” the vigilante mumbled as he rested his head on the desk and used the final bandage Jack carried on him on the injury on his leg. It had scabbed over by this point and Ray forced himself not to pick at it subconsciously. Night had fallen by this time and Michael had not returned nor had they heard any news about him. “You don't think this has to do with what happened at Diaz, do you?”

Geoff sighed. “Maybe,” he said. “They called him Mogar and between all three of us, Michael was the only one dressed as he was when we were in Diaz.” But it was obvious everyone in Diaz knew who they were before they left. There had been no warrant for anyone's arrest but X-Ray's.

Ray sighed. “This fucking blows."

…

“...32 bottles of beer on the wall, 32 bottles of beer! Take one down and you pass it around and you got 31 bottles of beer on the wall!”

“Shut up!”

“31 bottles of beer on the wall, 31 bottles of beer!” It was working, mostly. He had been singing this damn song at the top of his lungs for the passed eight minutes and he had gotten the guards attention. Instead, however, of them coming over and talking to him, they slammed the door shut and left the dungeon completely. Michael groaned loudly. “Dammit!”

He stared at a corner decorated with cobwebs and spiders a little too big for Michael's comfort. The iron bars were cold and the floor was cold and everything was cold. The only window was blocked with bars and not with glass, and the chill of the night weaved it's way between the metal. Michael frowned and drew up his knees, hugging them and shivering.

He hadn't eaten anything, either. He asked for food from the guards, they gave him nothing. He asked for a blanket. But no! He asked for information, he received a, “You know what you did.” Fuck them. Fuck everything! Fuck this King and his entire goddamn--

“Psst, hey.” Michael flinched at the voice and immediately looked at the door of his jail cell, but no one was there. He leaned forward, trying to peer into the shadows or around the walls for any hidden figures, but he found no visible person. Finally, he concluded he was hearing things. Then, “No, you doughnut! Over here.”

Then he turned to the window, which he had just been staring at, and jumped to his feet. “It's you!”

Grinning through the bars of the window was the green-dressed thief, Gavin. “Hello, lad!” he chirped, almost a little too happy to be there. He laid on the grass so he could peer through the window. While the window was above Michael, it was on ground level - meaning the jail cell was mostly underground.

“Damn you!”

Gavin still smiled, although he looked a little hurt. “Wot? I'm gonna break you outta here, an' all you got to say is 'damn you'?”

The traveler looked away from the window and folded his arms. “I don't need to be 'broken outta here', Gavin. Once I find out why I'm here and tell them this is all just some big misunderstanding, I'll be out of here soon enough.”

The big grin returned and Gavin rested his head in his head, looking away from Michael, playing with the grass. He sighed, and Michael assumed it was supposed to a regretful sigh but it didn't sound anything like it. Instead, it sounded almost victorious. “Sure, tell that to the guard who's comin' to kill ya.”

Michael scoffed. After a moment, his eyes wandered over to the thief, who was still laying by the window. “...They're going to kill me?”

Gavin nodded casually. “Yeah. They still think you're wanted by Diaz for stealin' the Deed. Although, y'think it's kinda funny, _Micool_ , that the Mayor o' Diaz never had a warrant for your arrest. Which means...” His eyes flashed knowingly at the traveler. “Someone's out to get ya. The guards are comin' to execute you 'cause that person told the King that the Mayor wants you dead.”

For a moment, Michael was torn between believing the thief and disregarding what he said as lies. Though, what he said was right. The Mayor never had a warrant for Michael's arrest. He knew who they were and let them go.

He clenched his fists and decided against gambling on his life. “Fine, whatever,” he said finally, approaching the window. “Get me outta here.”

Gavin beamed then motioned for Michael to stand by the bars. “Alright. Just stand over there, then.” Michael obeyed and Gavin disappeared from the window for a moment. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion and the wall by the window was suddenly blow apart. Michael turned away, shielding his face from the debris and waited for everything to settle before looking back.

There was Gavin, standing where the window used to be, smiling with a fuse in his hand. “Was that TNT!?” Michael gasped. “The hell do you think--”

“We've got no time, Michael!” the thief yelled suddenly, reaching down to help Michael up the wall onto the grass above the window. Michael gave a grunt of frustration and ran at the wall, jumping off it with one foot and grabbing Gavin's hand, who hauled him up over the edge.

At that moment, knights appeared on the other side of the cell door. One struggled to open the door with the keys while the other trained their bows between the bars at the two men. “Oh, shit!” Both males jumped out of the way in time for the arrows to zip by them.

Again, the bandage around Michael's arm came undone and flew off somewhere behind him. The guys rolled out of sight of the guards with the bows and sprinted around the back of the castle. Gavin tailed it for the nearest city gate when Michael caught his arm. “Michael, we have to go!”

“The others...!”

They met eyes for a moment, then Gavin nodded and returned to the back of the castle. “Alright. Just hold on, I'll buy us some time.” He crouched by the corner of the castle and Michael looked around nervously for any knights that would appear. He was unarmed and if the guards attacked them, then they wouldn't stand much of a chance.

Gavin pulled out flint and steel and struck a fire on the castle wall. There was a small hissing and he stood. “C'mon, let's go.” He waited for Michael to lead the way, which he did, and the duo set off for the library.

…

“Excuse me, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. The library is closed.”

Geoff stared at the librarian with tired eyes. “Alright,” he said finally and stood, shaking Ray awake, who awoke complaining about the lack of food they had that day.

The trio left the library and Geoff retrieved his armor from the barrel outside the library, thankful no one had stolen it. Not it really did him much good anyway, but he liked having it. It was the only surviving remainder of the fire of Jack's Inn. Jack sighed and looked to the castle behind the library which was visible from their standing point. “This is bullshit,” he mumbled.

“That's it,” Ray said suddenly as though he had made up his mind about something. “we go there as X-Ray, Man of Steel, and Fezzik, and break Michael outta there.”

“Isn't that what got Michael arrested in the first place?”

“Fezzik?”

And then the castle exploded.

Everyone in the city jumped with shock and women and children began to scream as the massive castle came tumbling down. The trio stared in horror as the gold tower tipped over towards the forest and collapsed against the wall.

“Hey!”

Geoff turned to the sound of the voice and beamed upon recognizing Michael and the green-dressed man all was familiar with, save for Jack. “Michael, how did you--”

“Long story.”

Gavin and Ray met gazes and the green-dressed man offered a friendly smile and a, “Hey, X-Ray.”

“Sup, Vav?”

“Not much.”

“Could you not?” The thief and the vigilante looked to Michael, who was less than pleased with the apparent warm welcome Ray was offering Gavin. They looked back at each other and shrugged, earning an eyeroll from Michael.

Jack was confused.

“We should probably get out of here,” Geoff said, though he almost made it seem more like a suggestion than a demand.

Before the group had a chance to make a break for the city gate, a horse brayed and a voice yelled, “Catch 'em all!”

Michael didn't bother to look for the source of the voice (which belonged to the King) and just started to sprint in the direction of the gate. Everyone promptly followed without complaint.

People ran around, screaming, which made it both easier and harder for the group to make their escape. Geoff, Ray, and Jack were careful not to run into people while Michael and Gavin had no issues simply pushing people out of the way (Michael was gentler than Gavin). Thankfully, the King and his knights did not want to run anyone over with their massive horses and was thus slowed greatly.

Michael reached the door first and pushed the gate open with all his strength, and it wasn't long before Ray and Geoff appeared to help him, too. “Follow them!” the King yelled.

“I'm surprised he's still alive,” Gavin mumbled as he looked back at the approaching King.

Once the door was open, the group scrambled outside, Ray tripping over a rock before even making it a few meters passed the door. It was Jack who picked him up by the back of his shirt and got him back to his feet again.

Against their luck, it seemed they were at first greeted with a great field that seemed to go on forever. No hiding places, and the horses could catch up easily. To their left, thankfully, was a rocky forest. Michael sighed with relief and changed directions to run into the forest. Everyone followed though Geoff seemed to have been two steps ahead of Michael and found a small gorge hidden within the trees and ran in between the rocks that stood a good twenty meters high.

They hadn't gone too far when they could hear the thundering hooves closing in behind them. The gorge was wide enough for two horses to fit in side by side, though the stones and rocks scatter along the bottom made it difficult to move quickly through the gorge. They could be followed into the gorge but it would be harder for those on horses than those on foot.

Still, it seemed the horses were getting closer and they could hear the knights yelling to each other. There was no was to escape save for going forward and they could not see the end. The endlessness seemed to get on Gavin's nerves and he shouted suddenly, “Bullokin' hell!”

Geoff looked back and found Gavin had stopped running, spinning around and training an arrow on the first knight to come into view. He let go and the arrow sailed through the air into the thin slit of the helmet and impaled the knight's right eye.

“Gavin!”

The rest of the guys stopped suddenly and looked back. The King and the rest of his knights appeared suddenly and it was clear that even if they had continued to run, the King would have caught up eventually. Gavin pulled back the string again and released another arrow, this time striking true through the cracks between the chestplate and helmet, and the knight fell off his horse. The King stopped suddenly and looked back at the Knight that had fallen. Turning back, he shouted, "Attack!" and the knights made their way, one by one, around the King and towards the group of men.

Michael reached down and chucked a rock at the King. The King ducked to the side and the rock hit the knight behind him off his horse. Geoff withdrew his battleaxe and took to striking down knights with the blunt end of the staff.

Ray and Jack didn't bother to reach for their weapons. There weren't as many knights as they had been expecting and it was difficult to join the fray with as many people in one spot as there were. The horses did not help any, either as they reared and neighed loudly over the battle. The animals were carefully spared and any of the horses that no longer had a rider on them turned back and returned out the other side of the gorge. Gavin shot down the last remaining knight, then turned and trained an arrow on the King, who seemed completely surprised.

“Gavin, don't you dare,” warned Jack and Gavin did not let the arrow fly.

The King looked at his knights who all laid on the ground either dead or unconscious, then he looked back at the group. “Uh, that didn't go as planned...”

Ray rolled his eyes and caught sight of a very, very pissed of Michael. “What the fuck!?” he yelled, marching up to the King. The horse stepped back hesitantly. “You fucking arrest me, then try to kill us! You asshole! What the hell!? You didn't even give me a fucking explanation as to why you arrested me! You just arrested me! You just threw me in the fucking dungeon! I want a fucking explanation!”

The King stammered uselessly for a moment but it was Gavin who piped up. “You pleb, I explained this to you already!” He lowered his bow and turned his full attention to Michael. “He didn't know about the Mayor o' Diaz lettin' you guys go. He was lied to.” He turned back to the King and hung the bow on his shoulder across his back. “Someone is out to get us. Or you guys. I reckon I'm safe.”

Michael folded his arms and the King nodded with Gavin's story. “I was just told by a guy who came along and said that these three guys need to be arrested for a thing they did in Diaz. He gave me some sort of physical description of their outfits and their names and said they were coming this way, so I said I would have them arrested. Mogar was really the only guy we could identify so we arrested him. Then the guy told me that he should be executed for some other reasons so I figured, 'Ah, what the hell?' ya know. If he's really as bad as this guy said then, well, you know. I mean he seemed honest enough. Besides, I have a reputation to uphold. I can't just have some criminals running around _my_ kingdom without proper retribution. I might be considered a little crazy but, c'mon, it's only to the guys who threaten my Kingdom. … Please don't kill me.”

There was a moment of silence and Michael sighed. Needless to say, he was still pretty angry but he tossed a glance over to Geoff and left the ball in his court. Geoff stood awkwardly for a moment, carefully considering his options, when Gavin started speaking again, much to everyone's dismay. “Well, if you don't wanna die, we can't have you running 'round trying to kill us again, then... you'll have to be our prisoner.”

“Wait, what?” Ray stole a few steps forward to stand between the King and Gavin. “He just tried to kill us and you want to have fucking tea with him?”

“Idiot, I said he'll be our prisoner! Micool, search for his weapons and take him. We can't have him running around if he goes back on his word.”

Michael glanced back at the team. Geoff made a frustrated gesture and just started walking away. He was followed by Ray, who threw his hands in the air, defeated. And yet, for odd reason, the King appeared almost pleased, even as he surrendered his weapons to the bear-like warrior. Much to Michael's dismay, it seemed the King had attempted to use Mogar's weapon for his own. Upon seeing the blue tinted blade, Michael glared hard at Ryan, who surrendered it sheepishly, although his smile remained. “I'll come with you. Or, be your prisoner.” The comment had called all attention to him. “I'll have you know, I don't like it when people lie to me. No one lies to King Ryan Haywood!” He kicked the sides of his horse and started forward. “So, where are we going, anyway? Doel? Marbleport? Oh, I heard White River is a beautiful village.”

Everyone exchanged confused glances, then Michael sighed and continued on after Ryan down through the gorge.


	7. Six Idiots Fall Down a Hole...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't freaking know what happened with this chapter; it's short and pretty crack-ish. There is no plot-development in this, I kinda just focused on characterization because I feel that is about as important to the story as the plot is. Besides, next chapter will probably be really long and contain a lot of plot advancement and hopefully more character development. I also wanna focus more on different relationships and whatnot -- not just Team Nice Dynamite or R & R, but like...as much as I can possibly get. Anyways, wish me luck on that.  
> Also I apologize for taking forever with the chapter. School is horrific and I ended up just forgetting. Now I remembered! So, here.  
> On with the story!

“Give me back what you stole, Gavin!”

The gorge had seemed to go on forever, but they found the end of it by nightfall. All that existed beyond the gorge was a large, flat field. It was easy to see the red of the spider's eyes in the dark, even from nearly two miles away, and zombies could be heard at the top of the gorge but they felt safe otherwise. (One zombie fell off the edge of the gorge and died instantly on impact of the ground.)

So, they set up camp and agreed to take turns keeping watch through the night. They did not have any supplies for sleeping in and Ray and Ryan complained they would have rathered a cavern than an empty field. However, they quieted with an annoyed earlash from Michael.

Now, Gavin had been warming himself by the fire they built (which was a good way of telling zombies there was dinner nearby, but it had gotten damn cold with the falling of the sun) and Michael had approached him.

Gavin turned suddenly, looking back at Michael who still seemed pissed off by everything that had happened in the Capital City. He smiled sheepishly, then searched through his pockets, producing two gold nuggets and a diamond. “Figured you'd want these back eventually.”

Michael stopped before Gavin and stared at the things in his hands, clutching his sword at his hip. How lucky he was that one the guards thought it was a good idea to hold onto Michael's sword and try to kill him with it. “You're a fucking idiot,” he snapped. “I want my bow back.”

There was a moment of silence as Gavin stared at Michael, trying to comprehend what he was saying. He came up with nothing and tilted his head a bit. “Wot?”

“Are you stupid!? I said I want my damn bow back!” Without waiting for Gavin to respond, he forcefully reached behind Gavin and ripped the diamond bow from his back. “Look! This is my bow! You _stole_ it, you _son_ of a bitch!”

“I didn't take your bow, you sausage! That's always been mine!”

“Yeah?! Look, right here! It says--” He was cut off suddenly, pointing at a blank space underneath the handle where his mark should have been. He brought it closer to his face and looked harder. Still, nothing came up.

Frustrated, Gavin snatched his bow back and slung it back over his shoulder. “Don't take shit that isn't yours, you bloody pleb.” He turned on his heel and made his way over to Ray who he figured would make for better conversation.

Michael rolled his eyes, though cursed himself for his stupidity. “The hell did he just call me?” Confused, he decided to ignore it and returned to Geoff who was filling King Haywood, or just Ryan as everyone had decided to call him, in on what was going on.

“...And now we're looking for Ajax's Forgery.” He turned to Jack, who was trying to recite the story from memory.

He rubbed his finger against his beard, then looked up. “It mentioned the creation of the Forgery after the Battle Against the Gods began. It said something along the lines of the steepest walls and the deadliest of rivers where the Forgery was protected by both the forces of nature and natural camouflage.”

“Natural camouflage?” Michael echoed to announce his joining of the conversation.

The former innkeeper nodded. “Since Forgery requires lava or at least fire, I'm assuming the 'steep walls' and 'deadly rivers' refer to a volcano.”

Geoff groaned. “Lava,” he sighed. “Lots of lava...”

“Yep,” Jack confirmed. “The only problem is that we have no idea which volcano.”

“Mount Yth,” said Geoff and Michael simultaneously. They looked at each other, then smiled and returned to the conversation, which Geoff explained, “Mount Yth has been known for it's maze-like caverns and death traps, just like the ones mentioned in Ajax's myth.”

“That's...convenient,” chuckled Ryan, appearing pleased with the outcome though a little surprised. “How did you guys even know? Was there a riddle I was missing out on, or what?”

Michael motioned for Geoff to speak first. “Michael and I have done a lot of traveling in the passed few years.”

“Together?”

“No, no,” Michael shook his head and started to explain how he met Geoff at Pryo's Den.

Across the encampment, Gavin took a seat beside Ray on a log. “Hello, Ray.”

“Sup, Vav?”

“Not much.”

“Cool.”

And they sat silently for a moment. Gavin dug his feet under some leaves then kicked up suddenly so everything went flying. Ray leaned back, trying to avoid getting dirt in his eyes, then pushed Gavin playfully for getting his shirt dirty with leaves and twigs.

Gavin just laughed.

…

Michael was incredibly pleased with their good fortune. It seemed luck had been on their side for the while, possibly making up for Jack's Inn and Ryan's broken castle (which now added up to _three_ buildings Gavin destroyed, though Michael was sure he was the only who knew about the Inn and the Castle).

Mount Yth was apparently closer than they thought. The most painful part of the journey was the walk over the giant field that continued on after the gorge. Ryan still had his horse and rode it across the field. “Hail to the King,” Geoff mumbled as they carried on over the field but Ryan didn't hear him.

The warrior's eyes cast off to the side upon zoning into the sound of rushing water. He blinked then stopped completely, staring in the direction he heard the water. It wasn't long before the entire group stopped with him, all at different distances, and followed his stare. “Anyone thirsty?” he grinned then, looking back at the others. There was a collection of mumbled agreements, which Geoff ignored anyway and started towards the river in the distance.

Michael stole a glance to the north where Mount Yth rested, then shrugged and followed Geoff towards the river with everyone else.

The river was nearby, but much farther than it sounded. They found the river in an eroded bed where rocks and dirt had been chipped away and there was a two meter drop into the rushing water. “Shout out to the tree growing in the middle of fucking nowhere,” Ray mumbled, more interested in the great field on the other side of the river (with a single tree in the midst of it all) than the river.

“Anyone got a bucket?” Ryan asked, looking between the men, who mostly shook their heads or simply didn't respond. Jack was one of the few who didn't respond – and then he did, about two minutes later when Gavin asked again.

“I got it!” the Innkeeper chirped, holding the bucket in the air and making his way over to the tree. By this time, the guys had gotten to making thick patches of bed-like substitutes made out of the grass that was everywhere. It was Gavin's idea to make himself a pillow out of a pile of grass, which then escalated to six beds (despite Michael and Ryan ridiculing him for the idea at first, thinking it was rather stupid, until Gavin commented how comfy it was and decided to make a full bed – and everyone else followed suit).

Geoff joined Jack by the river while Ray was considering jumping the river to get to the tree in the other field. (“I mean, Yolo, right? … No, shit! Yep! Bad idea!”)

“How's the, uh...water-fishing going?”

“Water-fishing?”

“Well, you know.”

“Like, fishing for water?” The bucket was tied to a rope which Jack holding since the river was too far down for him to reach with just his hands. The roped had been fashioned by the reigns of Ryan's horse and Jack promised to return the reigns to their original state when he was done with them. “Ryan's actually really useful for a King.”

“What?” Geoff looked back at Ryan, Michael, and Gavin. “I dunno. He's currently forcing Gavin to make his bed for him. Isn't he supposed to be _Gavin's_ prisoner? Where did he get that stick?” Michael threw his hands in the air, shouted something, then moved to stand with Ray by the riverbed.

Jack pulled the bucket out of the river full of water and tried to pull it up the side of the bed, only to accidentally scratch the bucket on the bed, freeing dirt loose and the dirt fell into the water. “Aw, son of a bitch,” he mumbled, then threw the bucket back in the water.

“What happened?” Michael yelled over the water and Jack explained, embarrassed, how he got the dirt in the water.

“I'm bloody hungry!” Gavin screamed suddenly, clutching his stomach and Michael yelled something in response about really needing a bath of any kind, only to then wonder if he could survive jumping into the river.

Geoff shook his head and placed his hands on his hips. The group was so scattered, all on their own independent ideas and unable to focus. “Wow, we're fucked.”

And that was the only thing he was able to say when the ground beneath his feet gave way and he disappeared suddenly under the ground. Jack turned from the river to where Geoff had been standing formerly and lifted the bucket of clean-enough water. “Geoff, I did it!” Once he realized Geoff was not there, he looked around with the same expression until he realized Geoff wasn't anywhere.

“Fuck! It's dark as dicks down here!” came an echoed voice, though it sounded so distant, Jack wasn't sure he had actually heard it over the rushing water.

He stood and looked around again. “Guys, where's Geoff?”

“I'm down here!”

This time, Jack was sure he heard the voice. He set the bucket on the ground and walked over to where Geoff had been standing last. Finally, he spotted a black hole and he walked to the edge of it, kneeling down. “Geoff, are you down there?”

“Yes, for the third fucking time!”

Down in the darkness, Geoff was wading in black water in the darkness. He listened closely for any indication of nearby monsters but all he could hear was the river in the walls and Jack's hysterical laughter. How far down did that thing flow, anyway? He was waist deep in water, which had cushioned his fall, and looking up revealed he had fallen quite a way. “Is anyone gonna come help me, or what!?”

“Yeah, hold on!”

Geoff waited quietly in the darkness for a moment, then started pushing his way in one direction, then another, but stayed close to the hole he had made. Some sunlight made it down into the hole but it helped none but determine the water he was standing in was mostly clean, save for the dirt he had kicked up while walking.

“Kay, I'm coming down!” The warrior turned just in time to watch a shadow drop from the surface and he burst into laughter for the shadow seemed so deformed, it was slightly amusing. A head popped up from the water then the person stood fully. “Man, it's cold down here.” The voice was recognized as Jack's and they met eyes briefly. “You alright?”

“I guess,” was the reply. He was hungry and he was cold and all his old wounds were aching again and now they were trapped in this underground dark hole where they would probably _not_ find any food or a way out. “Could be better.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“I got the bucket o' water!” came a cheerful chirp from the surface. “Did you want the bucket?” A chorus of “no”s seemed to come from everywhere but the echo was over taken by a loud, “ _Whup_!” and another shadow fell from the surface.

Michael and Ryan burst into a loud round of laughter while Ray could only shout, “Wow!” in amused disappointment.

“You're a _fucking_ idiot!”

“God _damn_ , it's freezin' down here, innit!?”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious!”

“Oh, shit!”

“Fuck _me_!”

And the rest of the ground up above collapsed, sending the remaining three into the darkness of the cavern below them as well. Geoff threw his arms in the air, but at least it was easier to see in the cavern now with all the new sunlight that was pouring in from the broken ceiling. “Great, now we're _all_ trapped in here!”

“I dropped the bucket! Where's the bucket!?”

“Gavin, shut the fuck up.”

“Oh, I found it.”

“What do we do now?”

“I got water up my kilt!”

“I really don't need to know what's up your kilt, dude.”

And suddenly, the five out of six of the guys broke out into their usual disorganized conversation, that seemed to not only be many smaller conversations but also one giant one as well. Geoff stood in the wet darkness for what was probably too long, staring at the scatterbrained men (if they could be called that) before him as they each tried to achieve order in their own chaotic way.

It was quite obvious that what the needed to survive, almost as badly as food, was a leader. “Guys, seriously, shut up!” And when that didn't do the trick, Geoff tried something that did, “Shut the hell up or I'm going to fuck you all!” which was totally not what he intended to say but it caught their attention (after they quieted down from the roar of laughter). “Shit, I mean fuck you all up. Fuck – Anyways!”

Now that the guys were quiet (although they were snorting with laughter but this was about as quiet they could get with their easily distracted behaviour), Geoff stole the moment to set a few things straight; “One, we're trapped in a hole.”

“Gold star!” shouted Ray and Geoff ignored him.

"So this is what it's like," mused Ryan. Michael glanced at him in concern.

“Two, we're all too disorganized so I'm going to be calling the shots around here.”

Michael shrugged, appearing okay with it but there was instant shoot back from his audience.

“Who made you leader?”

“Wait, I wanna be, uh, what do they call 'em?”

“I'm King! I make decisions!”

“Oh, a General! Like, in the army? Wait, I don't think that's right...”

“Listen up! Guys, seriously. We are in a really bad position. We don't have any food, we don't have any way out. I don't even some of us even have adequate weapons.” Ray shifted uneasily, trying to hide the stone dagger at his hip. “If you wanna fight about who's leader, go right the hell ahead. I'm going on up ahead.”

“I'm King, though.”

“Shut up, Ryan.”

“You shut up, Michael.”

The sound of water sloshing as Geoff waded away echoed off the walls and he disappeared into the darkness. Everyone hesitated for a moment, and it was Jack who broke the stillness, loyally following Geoff into the unknown. Gavin beamed and went after them, picking up his knees as high as he could as he trotted after Geoff and Jack.

“Gavin, I hate you so much,” Michael mumbled, and the rest, without any other idea of what to do, followed Geoff into the darkness. “We're so fucked.”


	8. ...And Then They Fall Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda disappointed with this chapter, but whatever. I'm doing okay with characterization and the last few paragraphs are sort of confusing. Anyways, enjoy the show!  
> On with the story!

Geoff said Gavin was in charge of the bucket but even Michael thought that was a stupid idea, as it was quite clear the moron couldn't keep track of his own ass without falling over. Still, Gavin trotted beside Geoff dutifully, like he was 'important or something.'

Ryan still complained that he was King and everyone should listen to him, but he was simply ignored. He didn't really seem to mind and Michael concluded he was just whining to make an annoyance of himself, which made sense as to why he and Gavin seemed to bond so well.

It was impossible to see anything passed his nose and it was becoming more and more irritating as time passed. “I can't see shit,” was repeated several times by several people, and the response was usually followed by a sarcastic, “No shit.”

They spent a good hour or two following the flow of water down the cavern. The sound of chattering teeth and groans of shivers from wet boots and soaking clothes seemed to echo endlessly. The water's level hadn't changed at all and Michael was losing the feeling in his legs. Once, Ryan sneezed and everyone sighed, accepting that the odds of catching an illness in the cavern was against them and Ryan was the first to lose against those odds.

Even if they wanted to stop and rest, sitting would only result in the water going over their heads and if they wanted to keep themselves from falling ill, they would need to keep as much of their body dry and warm as possible.

“I, I don't wanna die down here, guys,” whispered Gavin sometime into the darkness. All memory of the traveling in the caves seemed to meld together but that moment stuck to Michael because he couldn't remember if he told Gavin to shut up and stop being negative or if he silently agreed in a mental lapse of fear.

Whether another hour passed or only five minutes after the quiet comment, the current in the water seemed to pick up and the levels began to rise. The change was so incredibly slow, it mostly went unnoticeable and Michael wasn't even aware of it until Jack pointed it out; “Guys, I think we're in trouble.”

“I think I see a light ahead!” Everyone was more interested in Geoff for the moment, praying that meant a way out.

It was Ryan to emphasis Jack's point; “No, seriously, I think the water is rising.” Michael thought it was Jack talking again, so he ignored him.

“Where is the light? I don't see anything!”

“Guys, the water is up to my chest.”

“What? Oh, shit! It is, too!”

“Guys, help! _Whup_!” And Gavin was suddenly silent.

Ray reached out and groped around in the darkness for the nearest person to him, only for his fingers to meet with rocks and sharp edges, accidentally cutting his palm on a sharp rock. “Ah, son of a bitch!”

“Gavin?”

Finally, Ray's bloodied palm met with a thin fabric and he pulled. “Who's touching me?” asked Ryan.

“It's only me. Uh, sorry for the blood.”

“What?”

“Gavin, where did you g _oh, shit!_ ” And Geoff disappeared, too.

Now it was Jack calling out into the darkness without a response and Michael stood exactly where he was because he was afraid if he moved, the darkness and the water would swallow him, too. In that moment, he saw the light. “Oh, I see the light!” He stepped forward his feet went out from under him as the current took him away and spat him out down into a free fall towards the source of the light.

Back at the top, still in the darkness, Jack, Ryan, and Ray stood awkwardly in silence as a third male disappeared into absolute silence and it took only a few seconds for Jack to step forward and disappear as well, leaving the King and the Vigilante alone in the darkness.

“So, uh...” Ray shrugged and looked in the general direction of Ryan, who he was still holding onto. “Wanna hold hands and jump?”

There was a silence, then he felt the King shrug. “Yeah, sure.”

So they held hands and jumped.

…

Ray yelled something about an, ' _R &R Connection, go_!' and Ryan just unleashed a terrified (and confused) scream. Their combined cry didn't last too long, however, before they plunged into an even colder pool of water.

For a moment, Ray could not remember which way was up and kicked wildly in an attempt to find the direction he was supposed to be swimming. Finally, the air in his lungs tried to rise and lifted his entire chest – and thus his body – towards the surface, which he ultimately broke when finally gaining a sense of direction.

His head popped out of the water and he inhaled sharply, shivering from the nearly-ice water. He floated in the water, wiping the water from his eyes and gasping for air. Opening his eyes, he found it much easier to see. Not because his eyes were open now, but because a light illuminated the cave from below a cliff. He couldn't quite see the source – and he didn't care.

He spotted the group on the shore by the light; Gavin was standing over the lighted edge with his arms out. Ryan was hoisting himself up onto what looked like a block of ice, and the rest of the men were stripping off pieces of unneeded clothing that had soaked up too much of the frozen water. Geoff yelled at Gavin to get away from the edge before he fell.

With a huff, Ray started to swim towards the iced shore and hoisted himself up exactly as Ryan did, but the skin on his injured hand stuck to the ice block. Inhaling deeply, he slowly peeled his palm off the ice, hissing with pain as he did so, whispering curses to himself and his further damaged hand.

Michael trotted over in his bare feet and forced Ray to moved quickly off the ice before his clothes and shoes, or other patches of skin, would stick to the ice. It seemed he had not been the only one to learn the hard way that water and ice did not mix, but he was the most unfortunate case of them all.

“Thanks, man.”

“No problem.”

Gavin had finally returned from the edge and followed suit in stripping off the ice-cold cloth that was sticking to his body. In time, all six had stripped down to just their pants and were wringing out the water from their clothing. Unfortunately, even the bandages had to come off, too, for they had absorbed too much water and were now useless. Michael stole a moment to inspect the wound on his chest, but it seemed to have scabbed for the most part. It ached a little, but he was fine otherwise. Ray's arrow injury and Geoff's zombie bite had done the same. No infection, and thus the better off they were.

Time passed in silence as everyone dealt with their own clothes, until Jack decided to tend to Ray's hand wound – save they were all out of bandages. Ryan sneezed again, then commented that he had bandages on his horse. “Yeah, would be fucking helpful if they were here and not on the horse.”

Ryan shrugged and returned to inspecting a mysterious bruise on his leg. Geoff seemed alright for the most part, quietly keeping to himself and taking in the cavern they seemed to be currently trapped in, looking for a way forward. Or a way out. Or just a way. Anything would be great at this point.

Gavin broke the silence suddenly, going on about something he had seen in the Southern part of the Overworld. Michael instantly recognized what it was Gavin was talking about but didn't part take in any part of the conversation. He was irked by the creeper-dressed man and they hadn't spoke properly since the bow incident – and he wanted to keep it that way.

“Oh, yeah, I think I've been there,” Geoff chimed in absentmindedly, peering over the glowing edge. Finally, Ray decided to steal a look over the cliff. He stood and followed Geoff's gaze to what was a river of hot lava.

He stared into the lava for a good few moments, then stared across the river to a steep wall that climbed high and closed off at the top. The ceiling stood at almost what seemed sky high from them and he couldn't see any detail along the rocky top.

Michael joined him in time, Gavin still rambling in the background, and he squinted at the roof. It was then, Ray realized, Michael might have had trouble seeing. “What're you lookin' at, Ray?” the traveler asked. Ray hadn't taken into account what his expression must have seemed like, but something was slowly clicking in his mind.

Like he had realized something he had yet to realize.

Quietly, he mumbled to himself and peered back down at the lava again. “...Deadly rivers and steep walls...”

“What?”

Ray switched between examining the ceiling and the river of lava, and the ice-cold pool of water. “Gavin, shut up for a second, will ya?”

“Excuse me, Ray,” Gavin retorted, sounding upset at the request. “Just 'cause you aren't listening, doesn't mean no one else wants to--”

“No, seriously, shut up! I'm trying to think.” Gavin pouted and stayed silent, returning to wringing out the water in his clothes. The vigilante started to walk around, taking in every detail of the cavern he could see. Everyone watched him silently as he moved across the cobblestone ground. He had a feeling, and he knew his instincts were right, but he was afraid to say it because he might sound like an idiot.

He neared the ice pool and picked up a rock. He looked back at the others, who each held their own puzzled expression (including Gavin who had completely forgotten about being told to shut up, or he had just decided to put it behind him), then whipped the stone across the gorge, over the river of lava. It clinked against the wall and fell into the lava.

The clink echoed throughout the cavern and Ray listened, waiting for something to happen. Everyone held their breath for a moment, waiting silently...then Michael folded his arms. “What the hell are you doing, Ray?”

Ray stole another glance to the ceiling, then inhaled. “Guys, I think this is Ajax's Forgery.” He paused, then chuckled. “Ajax is such a fucking stupid name...”

“You just offended every Ajax in the universe, dude.”

“Hold on.” Geoff stood and walked to Ray's side, also looking up at the ceiling. “This is Ajax's Forgery? How can you tell?”

The Vigilante looked down from the ceiling and shrugged. “Lucky guess?” and that only earned him an annoyed glare from Michael. “Look, deadly rivers. We're between two right now. Steep walls, ya know? The whole falling down a hole we didn't even know existed. Think about it. This place is the best freaking place to hide a forgery. It's got lava and shit. It's hidden. Like, really.”

There was a moment of silence as everyone went over what Ray had said then they all nodded in agreement. Gavin began the process of putting on his shoes and Ryan coughed. “Then let's get ourselves together and get going,” Geoff chirped. Jack and Michael groaned but Gavin and Ryan seemed pleased with the idea.

Ray just kept his eyes on the river of lava that lit up their way. There was something ironic about the deadly river granting them light to see in the dark.

…

Michael and Gavin demonstrated an another little spat before Geoff could announce their carrying on into a dark corridor along the lava river. “Shut the hell up about the bucket. No one cares about the fucking bucket, Gavin.”

“You bugger, do you know anythin' about survivin' in caves?”

“Yes, I do! I spent a lot more time in caves than you probably have!”

“Like hell you have! You're sittin' there complaining about bein' hungry. Then drink water, it'll keep your tummy from grumbling. Basics of survival, bitches!”

“That doesn't keep you from being hungry, that makes you hungrier! It stretches out your stomach and you just have to take a fucking piss, like, five minutes later!”

“Fine, bloody don't drink the water then!”

No one had a chance to tell them to shut up and get along before both men went quiet suddenly, each turning their own direction. Gavin filled up the bucket with water and put the metal to his lips when Jack jumped as though he had been stung by a bee. “Wait, Gavin, hold on!”

Gavin gave a start, then whipped his head around. “Bloody hell, Jack, ya almost gave me a heart attack!”

“These rivers are supposed to be deadly. Who knows what sort of bacteria is in that water.”

The thief wrinkled his nose. “It's an underground stream, Jack, it's gotta be clean as gold.”

“Gold isn't exactly clean in the wild...”

Michael chuckled a bit. “'In the wild.' Oh, my God...”

“Shut up, Ray.”

“I-- Okay.”

A silence fell over the group and Geoff stole the opportunity to reform the order he had very little control over. “Are we ready to go, then?”

Everyone, irritable from hunger and cold, nodded. Geoff inhaled, then motioned towards the ledge that hung over the lava and continued on down with the lava river. The ledge was only two meters in width and it would be too dangerous not to go single file.

The group gathered by the edge and peered down. They had ten feet before they would hit the lava if they fell off the edge. Ryan sighed. “This is gonna be... _fun_.”

Geoff took a deep breath, then started down the ledge. Everyone exchanged unsure glances before following the warrior.

Hot wind blew through the tunnel, which had seemed to grow suddenly smaller as they walked. Michael's hands numbed comfortably at first, still cold from the freezing water, and now he was beginning to sweat. He shivered in between too hot and too cold and remained both unbearably uncomfortable and satisfied at the same time.

Again, they seemed to walk forever, but at least it was warmer and they could see. Ryan coughed again. Gavin's bucket of water was beginning to boil and the metal slowly grew too hot for his fingers to hold, so he wrapped his scarf around the handle, keeping the water. “Now it's boiled, so it'll definitely be good to drink now, yeah?”

Jack cocked an eyebrow. “A little late, isn't it?”

“Wot do you mean?”

“You already drank out of the pool.”

“Wot?”

Trying to explain to Gavin what it was the innkeeper was trying to say passed time much quicker and it wasn't long before the tunnel of molten lava (which now was rising, or maybe the ledge was slowly descending) opened up to another great cavern.

The ceiling rose high above them, where the red eyes of black bats blinked from their sleepy homes and ignored the trespassers. The lava provided little light and it was impossible to see the other side of the cavern. Ray leaned down and picked up a stone. Looking to the others, they all silently ushered him to continue his train of thought – which he did. He pulled back his hand and whipped the stone into the darkness.

It sailed far and disappeared. Nothing happened. “I thought this place was supposed to have death traps and impossible mazes and whatnot,” he mumbled, almost sounding disappointed.

“They're probably all ceased up and stuff,” was the only thing Michael could think of.

Jack shrugged. “Well, that makes it easier for us, right?”

“Something doesn't seem right...” And in the mixture of feelings about the useless traps, everyone could agree with Ryan that something, most definitely, was not right.

They listened closely and they found what was wrong. “There's absolutely no sound.” Ray knelt down for another stone and tossed it into the darkness. It disappeared and no echo returned from the shadows. “Oh, that's not good. That's _really_ not good.”

Everyone stood awkwardly in place, then Michael turned on his heel and started back towards the ledge. “Kay, I'm leaving.” Instinctively, Gavin grabbed Michael's arm, which only earned him a, “ _Don't touch me, you son of a bitch_!”

And the room lit up suddenly.

Torches were spread across the rocky cavern walls, alight with a new fire. Two stone pillars marked the middle of the cavern. In between the two pillars was a block of ashen rock and beyond the pillars was an anvil, a furnace, a large chest, and an amazing array of weapons and armor of every kind.

On the anvil was a large hammer.

“This is amazing!” Geoff gasped suddenly, breaking the silence that hung over the team. “This is it! Ray was right, this is it!” Michael slapped Ray on the back hard enough to make him stumble, clearly too awed by what had been revealed to really notice.

“Who turned on the lights?” hesitantly asked the King and everyone looked to Michael who put his hands up in defense. “Obviously, your yell did something.”

“Fuck if I know.”

“Gavin, the hell are you doing!?”

There was Gavin, already trotting up to the pillars to inspect the black square block between them. “Guys, I think this is the Obsidian that old lady was talkin' about.” Geoff jumped as though he had experienced an electric shock. “She said it started the Gold Tower, yeah? I reckon this is it.” The thief knelt beside the black block and stroked it gently.

The group spread out into different areas of the cave; Ryan took to examining the torches, Geoff made his way to the anvil and the hammer, Michael inspected the weapons and armor, and Jack and Ray stood by Gavin, also taking in the black piece. “We're gonna have to find a way to mine it.”

Michael had lifted up a diamond chest piece, examining it closely for any signs of ware. “This looks almost brand new.” He shrugged then slipped it on over his head. It was an awkward fit, clearly built for someone else of larger size. Quietly, he shifted around to get comfortable before noticing the diamond pickaxe hanging by a collection of swords. “This should do it.” He returned to the Obsidian and handed the pickaxe to Jack.

The innkeeper looked over the tool with a confused and curious expression, then ushered Gavin and Ray to move away so he could pick at the Obsidian.

As the lads watched Jack chip away at the Obsidian, Geoff took to looking over the lava river, which was much closer to floor level than when they had been in the previous cavern. He stared into the bright orange lake. Something was definitely off. The lava bubbled and a charred diamond shard rose from it's bright bowels, floating along the top briefly before sinking again.

A piece of sword or armor? He knelt by the bedside and tilted his head. Again, the lava bubbled and deformed, lifting a much larger object from it's insides. It was black, charred, most of it eroded away. At first, it's shape was awkward, like a demented star, when it dawned on Geoff what it was he was looking at; a human skeleton. “Holy shit!”

Across the cavern, Ryan followed the torches along the wall, searching for what it had been that triggered the torches to light suddenly. There was a crack along the stone wall behind the torches and when the King peered through the crack, he could see a red wire branching off and connecting to the torches. He followed the crack along the wall to an indent that was hidden in the wall adjacent to the entrance they had come through. The large and blocky silhouette of _something_ wobbled in the indent and Ryan approached it cautiously. Closer he crept, staring at the shadow that was formed in the indent. A large being of some sort? He stopped only mere inches away from it, squinting his eyes to make out details in the shadow.

Red eyes opened suddenly and Ryan jumped back. However, he was not quick enough and a stone arm emerged from the darkness, slamming into Ryan's jaw and sending him back several meters across the room towards the Obsidian block. Everyone's attention was instantly gained by Ryan's garbled cry as he hit the ground and, from the shadows, emerged a large moving statue made entirely of the same material as the block between the pillars.

Emerging from the darkness, was an Obsidian Golumn.


	9. The Hunters vs Ajax's Obsidian Golem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda long and boring but whatever, I guess. I'm sorry for uploading this chapter after making you guys wait so long, but yeah. Anyways, uncovers a small bit of Ryan's background story-- Oh, but there is this fight scene. That's, like... four pages long... But, whatever, right? Next chapter, hopefully, will be more plot advancing than the passed three chapters, cause seriously!  
> On with the story!

“I've never seen anything like it.”

“Less ogling, more fighting!”

And just like that, it began.

Each of the men pulled out their weapon and chaotically assumed a position a safe distance from the Obsidian Golem. They scattered themselves out from each other, trying to circle the Golem as best they could to provide an advantage over the eight foot monstrosity.

Gavin pulled back an arrow and let it sail through the air, striking the monster in the chest. The arrow bounced off harmlessly and simply clinked to the ground. The thief laughed awkwardly as the Golem turned to meet eyes with him and Gavin stepped back, breaking for the arsenal of weapons forged by Ajax himself.

The Golem took two steps towards the arsenal and Ray struck first having stationed himself between the pillars and the array of weapons. He had managed to arm himself with a gold dagger (being the closest weapon to him) and sprinted towards the monster, pulling back his arm and training the sharp end straight for the head. The stab connected and the vigilante, for a second, smiled.

He tried to push the blade into it's skull, praying it would be enough to kill the Golem, but the rock monster's head didn't cave. Instead, the golden blade snapped dead in half and crumbled in his hand. He jumped off the Golem's chest and landed into a crouch only a few feet away. “Fucking gold is shit!” he growled, inspecting the gold dust on his hand. “This is bullshit.”

He caught the Golem bring up it's bulky arm and he had hardly any time to bring up his arms to defend himself when it swung the limb, connecting with Ray's arm and ribcage and sent him flying towards the entrance of the cavern.

Ray hadn't even hit the ground when Michael and Geoff stole the chance to attack the thing from either side. Geoff's iron battleaxe did no damage, bouncing off the Obsidian Golem. It didn't even respond to his attack, like it hadn't felt anything at all. Michael's diamond sword, however, seemed to have attracted it's attention, especially since a corner of it's torso chipped away upon contact between the translucent blue blade and the black rock.

It stuck out it's arms and rotated itself by the waist, spinning around and striking the two males with either of it's arms. Michael sailed into one of the pillars and Geoff tumbled along the ground.

Without skipping a beat, it was Jack's turn to enter the fray. Still wielding the diamond pickaxe he had been trying to break Ajax's Obsidian block with, he heaved the pickaxe and struck the monster dead in the center of the back. The black rock chipped and left a shallow indent in the Golem's back. “I got it!” he shouted triumphantly, leaping back to avoid the arm swing that seemed to follow every attempt at attack.

Ryan wiped the blood away from his lip and looked carefully between the two chips in the Obsidian block, glancing to Michael (who was in the process of standing up) and Jack (who had retreated a good distance away from the monster and tried to keep it that way, though the Obsidian Golem seemed to have been rather focused on him). “We can only kill it with diamond,” he announced then. “Just like with normal Obsidian blocks.”

“And Gold is weak as shit!” Ray added unnecessarily, watching Gavin sift through the diamond equipment.

Finally, the thief produced a dagger, grinning as it glinted in the torchlight. “Here, Ray, catch!” Then he whipped it as hard as he could across the cavern to ensure it made it to Ray. The dagger zipped passed his head and embedded itself into the wall behind him. “Holy fuck, Gavin!”

“Sorry!” he yelled (though he wasn't sounding too apologetic), yanking a spear with a diamond tip free from the stand. “Oh, that's new.”

“Gavin!” The thief looked back to Ryan, who was waving his arms in the air. Gavin nodded, then hurled the spear like a javelin awkwardly with his left hand. The spear sailed for a moment then caught on Ryan's kilt as he tried to jump out of the way. “Goddammit, Gavin!”

“Geoff, want a weapon?”

An expression of panic overtook the warrior's face as he backed into the anvil and knocked the massive hammer off it. He looked back, then lifted up the giant hammer. “No, I'm good!” he replied then.

Gavin shrugged, looking over a diamond long sword. Something glinted and his eye was immediately attracted to it. “Oh, hello...”

The Obsidian Golem was surprisingly fast for it's size and strength. Michael and Jack took turns at double-teaming the thing, leaving tiny marks and scratches along the outside of it's body. No real damage, but at least it was something until they could unravel a better battle plan.

Suddenly, the Golem was more dexterous than before, twisting in an odd and unusual way for something made of stone blocks to move. It kicked out suddenly, slamming it's heel into Jack's stomach. Jack stumbled backwards and fell against the weapons. A gruesome scream shot through the air and all he was answered with was a very concerned, “Jack!” from Michael.

The monster turned and swung out it's arm. The palm of it's hand made strong contact with the traveler's skull and the Golem threw Michael's head into the nearby wall. Another cry, this more weakened than Jack's, echoed off the walls and he crumpled to the stone floor almost soundlessly. Jack didn't move but his breathing was beginning to labour.

The Golem did not move from it's position, staring heavily at Michael's unconscious form as though it had suddenly turned off. No one moved for a moment, but Jack groaned and slumped back against the rack. Slowly, Geoff inched his way to Jack, quietly so he didn't disturb the Golem's apparent peace.

“What the hell is going on?” Ray asked and the Golem was moving again, this time turning it's attention to the King Haywood, who readied his diamond-tipped spear for a fight. Ray yanked the dagger out of the wall behind him then raced against the Golem to get to Ryan first.

Gavin, who had pulled out a second diamond-edged spear, looked to Michael once, who was not moving, then to Geoff who was caring for Jack. Blood was easy to make out in the torchlight and it was obvious the situation was growing more and more urgent by the second. For the moment, Ryan and Ray were doing well by themselves. So, Gavin took the spear and snapped it over his knee, inspecting it carefully.

Geoff tore Jack's shirt open and immediately spotted the stone sword that had impaled him when he fell. For a moment, his breath hitched and Jack's head lolled back at the sight of his own blood. “Oh, shit,” they whispered and Geoff swallowed back his anxiety. “Don't worry, I got ya.”

“Wonderful,” moaned the innkeeper.

Ryan ducked under another swing. The Golem had returned to the fighting style of simply swinging it's arms around stiffly like some demented toy and spinning around randomly in hopes of taking one of the battlers off guard. By this time, Ryan had managed to pull apart most of the monster's fighting style, save for the moment it attacked Jack and Michael.

Ray took to rolling and jumping about the Obsidian knight to distracted it with tiny cuts and chips at the rock while Ryan jabbed and tried to take out large pieces of Obsidian. The planned seemed to work, for the most part, but the King knew it would only be a matter of time before the Golem would switch up it's tactic but he was prepared.

He just wasn't prepared for what actually happened.

The Golem spun at the waist again, sticking out it's arms in in an attempt to gain distance between itself, Ryan (who stood in front of the monster), and Ray (who was behind it). Ryan stumbled backward and nearly lost his balance in the attempt to duck under the arm while Ray jumped back against the wall, just out of the giant's reach, then kicked off the wall to leap over it. He pulled his dagger back, gripping it tight with both hands as he flew over the Golem with only the sheer force of his jump, and he dropped with a massive downward swing.

The dagger connected with one of the Golem's arms and cleaned the rectangular rock in two. The beast made it's first noise since the beginning of the battle and threw it's head back, a high pitched screech shaking the walls, the ceiling, the floor, rocking the lava river until waves lapped up onto the side.

Ray fell into a kneel then, learning from his first attempt at attacking the beast, rolled away to Ryan's side, who had the spear trained on the Golem.

As suddenly as it came, the screeching stopped and the earthshaking ceased. The monster did nothing for a short moment, the only sound being the laboured breathing of the Survivors. “Did we kill it?” And, for the third time, the Golem was moving again, picking it's arm up off the ground. The arm had stiffened completely, somehow, like the disconnected limb had lost it's magic and was only pure rock now.

The Golem slammed the arm against the wall, shortening it to a smaller, thinner piece of Obsidian, and ran the piece across it's chest with a loud _Zhing_. Slowly, Ray stood then found himself nearly eating the sharp end of a newly and quickly formed Obsidian sword. He fell to the side, feeling the sword cut through clothes and maybe even skin.

Ryan jumped the other way, only to corner himself against the wall. Following the motion of the swing, the monster hauled the sword into Ryan's stomach, who heaved out all the air from his lungs upon impact.

“Oh, God, Ryan!” Ray expected blood and gore, but when the sword pulled away, the King was still in one piece, though he crumpled over, winded, and clutched his stomach. He had been struck with the flat edge of the Obsidian sword, but the monster was using the ricochet force off the wall and propelled the sharp end for Ray's torso, but by the time he had realized this, it was already too late. “Fuck--”

A diamond-edged spear – or half of one – struck the arm and cut a small hole right through the rock. The blade wavered and saved Ray enough time to fall back on his heels and avoid the Obsidian blade. The Golem stumbled and fell to one knee, it's shoulder making contact with Ray and knocked him off his feet flat onto his ass. The monster stood, much quicker than it should have been able to, and drove a violent kick of the heel into Ray's temple.

The vigilante's fall was soundless, collapsing onto his side almost too quickly.

The Golem turned to the direction of where the spear had come from to spot Gavin pulling out another spear and snapping it in half over his knee. He pulled up his bow and knocked the halved diamond-tipped spear, pulling back the string. He fired the makeshift arrow, aiming straight for the monster's head. The arrow sailed through it's eye and embedded itself into the wall behind it.

The Golem remain unfazed.

Slowly, Gavin lowered his bow, a form of panicked shock forming on his face. “God... Geoff...!”

“Just a sec, Gavin!” Geoff, by this time, had already pulled the sword from Jack's abdomen and began to cover up the stab wound clumsily with the cloth from his pant leg – all under Jack's instruction. The innkeeper had calmly instructed Geoff through the process. By this time, Jack's words became nothing more than a slurred drawl of simple phrases between hard gasps for breath.

Across the room, the Golem looked to it's sword and back to Gavin, who was in the process of breaking as many diamond spears as he could. He knocked three arrows at one time and let them sail without even bothering to properly aim them first. Two of three arrows struck through the Golem's chest and shoulder - and the third narrowly missed the barely conscious King's head.

The ashen monster pulled up it's sword and snapped off a large piece off the tip of it's blade. Confused, Gavin halted all motion and watched for any clue of the Golem's intentions. The Golem wound up it's arm then chucked the piece as hard as it could, the Obsidian tip swirling in the air. It was hardly a blur in the air and Gavin had no time to yell. The sword fragment hit it's target square in the throat.

Geoff just looked up to watching as the piece rammed into Gavin's neck, both piece and person falling with the force of the throw. The sword fragment bounced off into the darkness, leaving the thief clutching his throat with one hand, choking for air, pounding his fist against the ground with the other.

Though the piece had done damage, Gavin had been (by the mercy of Gods) struck by the only flat edge of the fragment.

“Goddamn!”

The Golem turned it's black head to the now-standing form of Geoff, who clutched the Hammer in both hands. “Kill it!” Jack yelled, though he probably wasn't as loud or as clear through the obvious strained sounds of agony that stained his voice. “You have to kill it!”

Torn between acting as the medic and the warrior, he hesitated.

The monster stole a step towards Geoff, only to be interrupted by a forced yell and another hole in it's head. Ryan had stood, swallowing the pain that made the world about him spin, and thrust his spear through the center of the Golem's head.

Geoff wasted not even a second and charged, hauling the massive Hammer behind him. With a mighty swing, he blasted the Obsidian Golem across the cavern towards the lava. Pieces of black rock scattered across the room as the Golem hit the ground hard. Ryan, who had still been on the Golem's back, slammed his shoulder in the floor and rolled onto his feet with unusual grace.

Both Golem and Ryan stood, the King reassuming a battle position, although he was swaying side to side rather dangerously. “I distract,” he barked. “you swing!”

The warrior nodded, having thought a similar strategy, and Ryan was back into the fray against the monster again. Geoff considered when the perfect time to swing was, other than when Ryan was far from the monster, though he seemed to have been missing the decent times. None of them seemed good enough, but he wasn't sure when good enough was.

Ryan stabbed another chunk off the Obsidian monster's shoulder and received a hefty smack from the flat of the blade along the jaw in return. He grunted and landed on his feet, though he collapsed to one knee and panted. Slowly, he smirked. “What, is that all you got?”

The single eye of the Obsidian Golem met with Ryan's and, if it could make a facial expression, he was sure it would have been pissed off. It hollered, like a battle cry, and lifted it's sword above it's head. Ryan focused his eyes and jumped forward, poising his spear for the monster's chest. The diamond-tip ripped through the rock and tore out on the other side.

Before the Golem could let the blade fall on Ryan, Geoff found his feet moving on their own. With a great battle-cry, he rammed the Hammer into the Golem's side. The monster roared again, airborne now. It dragged Ryan, who was still gripping the spear now stuck in it's chest, along with it over the ledge and barreling towards the river of lava down below.

Ryan unleashed a terrified scream as he let go of the spear and began to descend to the bright, bubbling magma below. He shut his eyes, expecting the worst, but his fall was halted suddenly as he was grabbed by the wrist and jolted upwards. His eyes snapped open and he fell upwards into Geoff and the two went tumbling back onto the ledge.

Down below, the Obsidian Golem's cry pierced the air as the lava ate at it's own flesh, pulling the monster beneath it's surface.

And then, it was gone.

Geoff and Ryan stared at the lava below, waiting for anything to suddenly jump out at them and resume the battle, but they were met with silence. They looked to each other. Ever so slowly, their mouths twisted into grins and they cheered loudly, pulling each other into a tight hug and didn't let go for a few minutes.

Finally, the celebratory air faded as they were met with the strangled silence. Jack coughed and the two males let each other go, examining the damage behind them. The remaining four men all laid unconscious; Gavin had passed out from lack of oxygen and Jack from blood loss. Michael and Ray had remained in their unconscious state since they met it.

The relief quickly passed as the King and the warrior looked to each other a second time, more worried this time. “Looks like we got some work ahead of us,” Geoff mumbled and they split off; Ryan to care for Ray and Michael and Geoff to see to Gavin and Jack.

They pulled the males to the Obsidian in the middle and rested each of them in a line along each other. Geoff took to inspecting everyone over. The first he investigated with Michael, who suffered from a severe head wound. He would have examined Gavin, but his breathing had steadied (thankfully), although it was short and shallow. Geoff figured Michael would sooner bleed out than Gavin suffocate and thus took to cleaning Michael's wound. He tore off the cloth of his other pant leg and wrapped it around his head.

Ryan sat by Ray and snapped his fingers in front of his face in an attempt to wake him up, which it didn't. The vigilante was also bleeding from the head wound given by the heel of the Obsidian Golem. Quietly, Geoff began to instruct him how to care for the wound exactly as he was doing so with Michael. The silence was kind between Geoff's words and they seemed to find comfort in the company, talking quietly about whatever it was that came up as a topic.

“A King, huh? How did you manage that one?”

“What do you mean 'manage that one'? I was born into it. You can't really 'manage' your way into being a King.”

“Must've been a nice life, being a Prince and all.”

Ryan hummed uncertainly, unwrapping the scarf from around Gavin's neck, unveiling a large, dark bruise along his throat. Gingerly, he brushed his fingers along the wound but he wasn't sure what he was looking for. “I guess it was alright, when I think about it.”

Geoff pushed the King's hand away and closely inspected the bruise. “His windpipe isn't crushed, which is a good thing. … 'When you think about it'?”

The warrior looked to Jack. He was the only one who could probably help the lads beyond what himself and Ryan had already done, but he doubted Jack would be able to do such when he woke up.

“Well, I mean, sure, I had everything spoon-fed to me when I was a kid, but...it was pretty lonely. I remember it being lonely anyway.” Ryan sat back against Ajax's Obsidian and sighed. “And kinda dangerous.”

Geoff nodded slowly, then moved to lean against one of the other sides of the Obsidian block. “Yeah, with the assassin's and shit. It was probably scary as dicks, amiright?”

The King shrugged and adjusted his kilt. “Not as much as it was lonely,” he said again and Geoff caught the hint.

“Lonely? How so?”

“How do you think? I was a Prince. I was 'too good' to play with any of the kids, and my parents were so worried about me getting assassinated that they just locked me up in my room with a mentor and a couple of toys.”

“Ah.”

“I wasn't really worried about the assassin's growing up but I didn't realize how bad it would be, really. Not until my Dad kicked the bucket when I was, er, what? Sixteen? Whatever. My mother didn't do too bad, ruling about as well as Dad did till I was old enough to be King. And then Nexxas burned to the ground and people were really pissed then.”

Michael's hand twitched in his sleep and it didn't go unnoticed by Geoff. “What did Nexxas have to do with the Capital?”

“What _didn't_ it have to do with the Capital? We were close enough. We might have been able to do something.” Ryan rested his head against the Obsidian and closed his eyes, sighing again. He winced, placing a hand over his stomach. He was afraid to inspect the damage and thus ignored it for the moment.

Geoff went silent, unable to think of a way to reply. He remembered when he heard about Nexxas and it's destruction. He had been in White River when he received the news two days after everything was burnt to charcoal.

Quietly, he looked to the Hammer that rested under his palm. He hadn't thought about it much, other than that it was a damn good weapon against the Obsidian Golem. He was sure the Hammer had been Ajax's and was probably used to forge the weapons in the arsenal. He smirked and ran his fingers along the head of the Hammer, thinking it wouldn't be missed now Ajax wasn't exactly around anymore. “How long do you think we'll be here?”

“Too long,” Ryan replied dreadfully. Geoff laughed.


	10. Six Guys Give Themselves a Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What!? I'm alive!? Whoa! Well, life stuff got in the way, but I'm finally done school indefinitely and so I hope to spend more time writing when I can. I really love this story and I want to finish it so badly, so here's hoping I can do that.  
> Let's see if I can finish this fanfic without going on another year-long hiatus. I'm sorry this chapter sucks, but I really had to do some damage control for what I wanted to do with the story and how I wanted it to progress. Before, I had absolutely no planning and I got stuck, which is why the story needed to go on such a long hiatus; I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with the story and it ended up dying because I was so stuck that I didn't know how to fix it. A year and a half later, I figured it out! Now, we can get back to finishing the tale of the [almost] Untold Tale!  
> On with the story!

He had only been awake for a few hours, but it felt like it had been days since the battle. He was the first to wake, and with a start at that. He sat up suddenly and began to yell for the Obsidian Golem to come back and do a better job, only to be given a confused look from Geoff. Quietly looking around, he discovered they were no longer deep under the mountain cavern.

It seemed, instead, he was upon the back of a carriage.

“What the fuck?” he whispered quietly, taking in the wooden floor and cloth covering that shielded them from the weather about them. He was answered with a loud moo from the front. “Was that a cow?”

“Yup.” Michael finally turned his gaze to meet with Geoff's, who just looked tired. “That would be a cow.”

“Who the hell's driving this thing?” A sneeze without origin answered instead, followed by a series of gibbered words in the voice of what sounded like the kilted King. “Oh.” Michael leaned up properly and drew in his knees, with difficulty. Beside him laid Gavin and Ray, who remained both unconscious and entirely unmoving in their sleep. He turned his gaze to the man laying beside Geoff, undoubtedly Jack, and frowned. “Is he going to be okay?”

Geoff looked to Michael, then to Jack, and shrugged. “Dunno. Hope so. Ryan up there says he thinks he knows how to get to some small town village called Jumael. Hopefully they'll be able to help us.”

Once, the traveler nodded.

One by one, each of the unconscious males woke, inspecting their wounds and listening to Geoff and Ryan's story of how the Golem was defeated, how they managed to dig a way out using the tools kicking around the forgery, how they dragged each person out, one by one, through the hole. How they brought along the Obsidian block from the forgery. How Ryan convinced a couple to turn over their cart for their emergency use but let them keep their horse so they would have a means of travel. Geoff offered up equal payment for the cart whilst Ryan found wheat and lead a cow back to their spot as a means to be used to pull it. Apparently, half a day and night had passed since the battle.

“Impressive,” was all Michael had to say, though he didn't sound all that impressed. No, Michael was too busy kicking himself for being incapacitated within the first few minutes of the battle. The first to lose consciousness. Like he was weak or something.

Of course, pride was supposed to be the least of his worries. Gavin was wheezing and Ryan was coughing more than ever, suffering both a mixture of illness and some form of internal bleeding, as Jack had theorized. Michael himself and Ray both had concussions and the world just seemed to spin with every breath they took. Jack had stopped bleeding, but the wound would be fatal if left untreated.

After hours of waiting and praying and joking to take their minds of their dire situation, Ryan finally announced, “There! I see it!”

In joy, Michael clambered up to the front to join him and Gavin (who had gone up earlier in their journey to keep their prisoner company) and caught his first view of the small village. “Awesome.”

“Hang in there, Jack,” said Geoff in the back. “We're gonna get you all patched up.”

“Thank God.”

As soon as they entered the town, Gavin jumped off and quickly began to explain (with difficulty) their situation. Michael aided Geoff in helping Jack out the back so the local witch doctor could see to him quickly. Ray just stood back and watched the scene unfold.

The next Michael realized, he, Gavin, Ray, and Ryan were all shoved into different rooms to be tended to. They were each examined, bandaged, and given appropriate medicines before being left in the waiting room while Geoff and the witch doctor cared to Jack, as their current states were stable enough to wait. Jack, undoubtedly, could not.

For a moment, they remained in silence, and then Gavin forced himself to speak again. Barely, his voice could be made out through the wheezing, which earned a sympathetic chuckle from Michael. “Good navigatin', Ryan.”

“I mean, I am a King. I should probably know my Kingdom and everything surrounding it. Uh, try not to talk. You might ruin your vocal chords.”

Gavin opened his mouth to speak again, then fell silent and nodded in agreement. Once more, they fell into silence.

The sun had half fallen from the sky by the time the doctor reemerged again. Ray had fallen asleep against the window and Michael was in the process of doing so, yet was startled awake by sudden speaking. “Your friend is going to be fine. I have given him a healing potion to start his recovery. By tomorrow, he will be returned to his best health. As for the rest of you, I will be able to give you better attention when my current patient is in better condition.”

As Michael's eyes focused, he realized the doctor had spoken almost solely to Ryan, who was sitting straight. “That is great news, good doctor. For now, I wish to speak with my colleagues and retire to the inn.”

The doctor bowed slightly. “Of course, your Majesty. I will return in a few moments with the other one.”

Ryan nodded and the doctor disappeared again into the room. Michael nudged Ryan with his foot and gestured to where the doctor had gone. “Looks like your more than just the King of the Kingdom.”

“Alright, the entire Hold, but what are you gonna do? Sue me?”

Gavin laughed.

Soon, they were reunited with Geoff again. They came upon the inn and the innkeeper insisted that they would not pay as the grace of the King Haywood was beyond enough payment for their night. Michael gave little regard to the circumstance and was just glad to see another bed once more. How long had it been since he slept, and not been unconscious, running, or fighting?

And yet, even after hours of laying in bed, he could not sleep. (Though, he would admit simply lying in a bed was perfect enough.) His mind wandered to Jack, who had to remain in the clinic overnight. He thought about the Tower and where they would plan to head next. He remembered his home back in the forest. All full, collective thoughts. Yet he always seemed to be drawn back to the worry of Jack in the clinic. How long had they come now? And perhaps they would already lose someone. Michael turned in his sleep; of all the people, he really didn't want to lose Jack the most.

It was impossible to tell if Ray or Ryan or Geoff or Gavin were still awake, since they had been all placed in separate rooms. His stomach growled loudly and he decided it was best to eat now and attempt sleep again another time.

He sat up and left his room, beginning down the stairs. Yet, as he grew closer to the first floor, he was halted by voices.

“What? Are you sure? I thought I was just here to deliver that.”

“Yes, but... Just let it be done. I cannot have anyone trying to take the Kingdom in my absence. The mobs are getting too much, and something must be done.”

“But, that wasn't part of--”

“Just do it. I promise, everything will be fine. He and I already talked about it.”

Michael pressed his back against the wall, fearing that moving would give away his position.

“Fine. I will send the message in the mornin'.”

Silence blanketed the building and Michael stiffened his back. A young man came around the corner suddenly and stopped upon realizing the traveler's presence. There was a bit of an awkward stillness, before the visitor continued his way down the stairs towards the kitchen. The man proceeded to his own room.

In the kitchen, Michael sorted through the food stuffs. An apple caught his eye. Upon biting into it, he realized just how hungry he was. Scarfing that down, he moved onto a loaf of bread. When was the last he ate? He felt sick from the concussion, but he felt even sicker from hunger. Cheese, milk, meat, ale – he shoved as much as he could into his arms to squirrel away into his room and hide with.

A mouthful of meat and an armful of food, he turned around and came face to face with the silhouette in the door. Michael froze entirely, like a deer caught in headlights. For a moment, he feared Ryan had discovered Michael listening in on the previous conversation, but as his eyes focused on the light, he realized was staring at none other than the Man of Steel himself. Suddenly, he dared to continue chewing the food in his mouth.

Geoff grinned.. “Hungry, Michael?”

“Jus' a li'tle.”

The older man laughed, then gestured to a nearby table. “Sharing is caring.”

Michael was a little disappointed; not in that he had been caught, but now that he had to share his findings. Then he remembered there was a whole cupboard of food behind him yet and he felt less reluctance. So, he carried the food to the table and sat down at the chair across from Geoff.

Quickly, silently, they began to eat away at the slightly stolen food ravenously. A good ten minutes passed before Michael felt significantly better. “Couldn't sleep, huh?” he asked then, but still through a full mouth.

“No. Just got up. It's gonna be sunrise soon.”

Michael stiffened uncomfortably. It seemed he had spent more time laying in his bed than he thought. Silence befell them again, but Michael didn't touch anymore food. Actually, it was now he thought about it that he knew surprisingly little about the man he'd met in the forest. He listened quietly for any sounds indicated the others being awake besides themselves and the King, but heard nothing. “So, uh...” Geoff glanced up from his food and stole a good swing of ale before Michael could even figure out how to phrase this question. “You're looking for the Golden Tower, right?”

The air changed drastically, even though Geoff's expression remained exactly the same. He set the ale bottle on the table. “Yup. That I am.”

“So, I guess that means you want a wish to be granted, right?”

Simply, Geoff nodded.

Michael awaited a moment, assuming his unspoken question would will an answer but it seemed he was wrong. “So? What is it?”

“What's what?”

“Your wish!” Geoff shrugged too quickly and Michael's eyes narrowed. After more silence, he concluded that he didn't wanna talk about it. He lowered his head and started again on his food, allowing the question to go unanswered for the time being.

Then, just as suddenly, a third voice entered to the fray; “Top of the mornin', lads and gents!”

Michael inhaled deeply, irritation and annoyance rising in his stomach. Or maybe that was acid reflux. That damn guy probably caused both of those things to happen. (However, Geoff and Michael were visibly relieved to hear him speak again at normal volume; it seemed whatever medicine he had been given for his throat injury had really done the trick.) When he looked up, he noticed Ryan had also come into the room, though with less of a dramatic entrance than his creeper-dressed buddy.

“Mornin', Gav,” Geoff responded, though a little less cheery than the Brit. Michael just shoved another piece of ham into his mouth.

Gavin snatched a third seat from the corner and sat right next to them, helping himself to the food. Geoff jumped when he realized Ryan was there as well, since a hand had come from nowhere over his shoulder to grab some ham.

They hadn't been eating for five minutes when Ray appeared as well; “The innkeeper told me there was breakfast. Yes, please.”

“Oi, Gavin! Don't hog all the butter!”

“Sorry.”

“Ray, could you please pass me some bread.”

“Sure, your Majestical.”

“Majestical? What the fuck?”

The innkeeper watched them from the doorway. Michael caught his gaze from the corner of his eye and glanced at his direction. He lifted an arm to invite him over, but the man disappeared before the signal could be completed. Confused, the traveler lowered his arm and shook his head. The next he looked to the table, Gavin stole the last of his ale and Ray successfully snatched the last bit of cheese before Ryan could.

The morning sun came up quickly and it was as soon as his eyes were blinded by the light that Michael's body decided that it was tired. By this time, Geoff was already buzzed by the ale and it seemed Gavin wasn't far behind. They made a ruckus of the morning, despite Ryan's suggestions to take it down a notch.

Whilst Ray tried to keep Gavin and Geoff in check, Michael fell back in stride alongside Ryan, who currently kept his hands behind his back and his posture straight and regal. “So, uh, what's the plan, anyway?”

Ryan smiled. “Well, I got some supplies for the cart this morning, so we can take off as soon as we get Jack. And...” He held up a rolled up piece of paper. “I've got the map to the Golden Tower.”

The traveler's jaw fell agape for the moment, stunned into silence for the moment. Then, “H-How!? Where did you get that? Don't tell me some guy just gave it to you.”

“No, no. It's a little more complicated than that. I'll explain it to you sometime.” Michael's shocked expression fell suspicious, and his glare bore into the side of Ryan's face. “Don't be skeptical, Michael. I have eyes and ears in the entire Hold. If something I want is found, then I know about it and I will have it. It's not rocket science.”

They reached the clinic just as the witch doctor received the delivery. He told them all to wait out in the front room for a few minutes. Quietly, apprehensively, and drunkenly, they waited in the front room for several long minutes. Once, a nurse from the overnight emergency room visited them and offered Gavin a throat lozenge. The door opened and emerged from it came the witch doctor and Jack, who seemed to be in perfectly good health.

All of a sudden, the five men simultaneously burst into loud cheers and hurried to meet him. Geoff threw his arms around his friend sloppily and yelled something about how glad he was to see him. They shared a large hug in the cramped doorway, and the witch doctor stepped back to give them space.

Within time, they had collected themselves and stepped into the waiting room so there was better room for the nurses and doctors to do their work.

“Thank you very much for your good work, doctor.” Everyone was crowded around Jack while Ryan spoke with the doctor. “Your service will be rewarded fairly.” He offered up a great pouch of currency to the witch doctor, who's eyes widened with disbelief. He took the sack in his hands and looked up to the King, then bowed deeply.

“Thank you, your Highness. But this is beyond payme--”

“Just take the money. We'll be on our way.”

He turned away and Gavin and Geoff were trying to convince Jack to have a drink with them. Michael and Ray whispered quietly to each other, then the former stepped forward and claimed the ale as Jack didn't seem to want it.

“We just got up! You're drinking already?!”

“Shut up, Ray!”

Ryan ushered them all out the door towards the cart. Gavin called shotgun and everyone save Ryan climbed into the back; Ryan sat up front with Gavin to drive the cart.

“Ain't you a King, Ryan?” Gavin asked when Ryan took the reigns from him and refused to let him drive. “Why do ya wanna drive the cart so bad?”

“'Cause it's my cow. Also, you're too drunk to drive. No way in hell I'm letting any of you, except Jack, touch these reigns, and Jack needs a break.”

All of a sudden, Michael's head popped out from the cloth on the caravan. “Hey, what about me?”

“Hey. I just wanna drive, alright? Let me do the thing. 'Sides, I have the map.” He held up the paper from earlier again, which Gavin snatched from his hands without a problem. “Hey! What the hell!?”

“A map!? No kiddin'!” The thief opened the map and turned it several ways before realizing which was upside right. “Alright, Ry! Go forward!”

“I-- No shit. And that's King Haywood to you.”

“Whatever you say, Ry.”

The King tossed a dangerous glance at Gavin and Michael waved his hand. “Ignore him; he'll always be annoying.”

“That's right, Micool!”

Michael fell back into the caravan again, just as Ray was finishing a sentence. “But seriously, what have we honestly achieved since we started this adventure.”

“We got the Obsidian block,” Geoff began, then realized he didn't have much to add.

“We killed a Golem,” Jack added and Geoff nodded in agreement.

Michael threw his arms in the air. “And we got our asses kicked! What a great story!”

Ray shook his head and buried it in his arms. “Okay, honestly. Can we achieve something legitimate without being absolute failures at the same time?”

Jack looked to Geoff, who giggled. “Guys, guys. I got it. Ray-- Okay, listen. Just, hear me out.”

“Yes!” Michael snapped, though his voice fell into a chuckle. “We're listening! Spit it out already!”

“Guys, we'll be...” Geoff paused dramatically. And then, “the Achievement Hunters!”

Michael threw himself to the side while Ray's chin dropped to his chest. “That was... not at all what I... Why?”

Then Gavin's voice came from the front; “I love it!”

Then Ryan's voice; “Love what?”

Michael was losing it in the back, laying on the ground and clutching his stomach while Jack just laughed heartily, glad to be alive to witness this moment of absolute stupidity.

“The Achievement Hunters,” Geoff finalized. “That's us now. Hunting to achieve something. That's it.”

Ray picked up his head again and chuckled. “Yeah, sure. That'll stick.”

(Spoiler alert; it did.)

 


	11. The Achievement Hunters Take a Bath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that not a lot happens in this chapter, but I needed to set up so that a lot of stuff can happen for the next few chapters.  
> On with the story!

“Okay, so, where are we going?”

“Wherever the map tells us.”

Michael currently laid half out the caravan and half inside. Gavin had unfolded the map to tell Ryan whether or not they were along the right track, and now he was showing Michael the entire thing. None of it exactly seemed to make sense; it was marked with words and places he had never heard of. The map said they were on grassy land but there were trees all around them. So far, it just seemed very inaccurate.

“This map is really old-fashioned, so you gotta know your history if you wanna get anywhere.”

Michael shifted his weight awkwardly, only to fall back into his old position again. “Alright. And that answers my question... how?”

Gavin scoffed. “I only know where we're going in the past. I can't tell you where we're going in the present.”

For a brief moment, the traveler absorbed the information, then slammed his fist on the wood. “What the fuck does that even mean!? We're in the present! We can't go back in time, Gavin, unless you've managed to build some crazy time machine and, as far as I can see, you don't have one!”

The thief rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Idiot! I mean that I can only tell you what the name of that place was a million years ago. I don't know what it is now!”

“Why didn't you just say that in the first place!? You had to make it all complicated.”

“I was havin' trouble wording my words. It's hard!”

“Wording your words?”

“Guys, shut up!” Michael and Gavin both turned their attention to the King, who gestured to the cow. “You guys are upsetting Edgar.”

There was a long pause, and then Geoff's head popped through the caravan cloth and startled Gavin. “Who the fuck is Edgar?”

With more emphasis this time around, Ryan gestured to the cart-pulling creature. “Edgar! He's my cow now. I lured him, he's puling the cart, I'm driving the cart, he is mine.”

There was a moment of silence as they all struggled to come up with an argument. Then, the disembodied voice of Jack piped up, “You realized Edgar's a girl cow, right?”

“What!?” And, suddenly, everyone burst into laughter. Ryan leaned over one side of the cart to get a look at what Edgar did have under there, but his search was quickly ended.

“Guys! Look! I see it!”

Everyone turned to Gavin, then followed the finger he was pointing down the path to a glittery end. Jack and Ray's heads appeared suddenly to get a look at the marvel. They remained all quiet, watching for the light to fade so they could finally see just what it was they were looking at. Several minutes later and the light had not faded but rather grew. The cart drew out into the light and they found finally understand what it was they were coming upon.

And what they came upon was a wide and long lake.

The lake itself was a deep blue and the entirety of the surrounding land was pure forest of evergreen trees and maples. The lake drew on into an ocean on the far right and the left harboured a cove of reflective water. The place was tranquil, untouched by man for decades. The flourish of life was a breath of fresh air.

Mumbles of confusion and whispers of doubt arose from the men in the caravan. Gavin rose suddenly and jumped off the caravan. He walked to the edge of the lake and glanced again at the map, then at the lake, then at the map, then at the lake. “I don't understand.”

Ryan jumped off the caravan and joined Gavin, taking the map himself to read. There was a moment of hesitation while everyone climbed out of the caravan to join them. Then finally, Ryan said, “No, this is it. It's definitely it.” A pause. “It's... in the water.”

“What!?”

Geoff groaned in disbelief; Jack and Ray stared further in horror. Michael scrambled for a reason why he had come along in the first place. Gavin stepped forward and took the map once more, then looked down at the water. “It can't be that deep, can it?”

Ryan sighed. “There's only one way to find out.” He shoved the map in Gavin's hands and removed the golden crown from his head and also passing that along to Gavin.

“What, you aren't going down there, are you?”

“Why not?”

Michael groaned and kicked off his shoes, removing his hoodie to stand beside also shirtless Ryan. “Whatever. Let's just get this over with.” The King smiled thankfully at Michael, then they both took a deep breath and proceeded to jump into the water.

The water, at first, was a little chilly, but it didn't take long for his body to adjust. Michael opened his eyes, slowly at first, and then entirely. At his current level, he could only see blueness forever. Downwards was completely darkness. Quickly, he surfaced to find Ryan had already been up there. “Nothing so far,” he reported, then turned to Ryan. “Wanna go a bit deeper and see what we can find?”

Ryan nodded. “We should probably swim a bit closer to the middle; if I had to be a missing city, that's where I'd be.”

“City?”

Glancing back at the others, they all seemed to shrug, though Michael had assumed Gavin knew exactly what Ryan was talking about. Sighing, he started after Ryan towards the centre of the lake. With a simultaneous nod, they took a final gulp of air and fell below the surface.

Immediately, his face collided with the body of a slimy fish. He waved his arms frantically and pushed himself back, but the brief moment scale and skin touched was incomparable to the amount of time Michael spent panicking about it. He glared around for the fish but couldn't quite tell which one of the many aquatic creatures made it's arrogant introduction, so he dismissed it for now and began his decent towards the bottom of the lake after Ryan.

For the first few seconds, there was hardly any light; just darkness and fish. Within those few seconds, Michael had already decided what they were looking for wasn't down there. Except he was wrong. There was, indeed, a light when they pressed on for longer than three seconds. It was difficult to see the source within the murky water, but there was indeed something down there. The men strained their eyes to see as they drew closer and closer to the light.

And then Ryan slammed right into nothing.

Michael swam down next to him, raising an eyebrow as the King peeled himself from the invisible force he had suddenly become acquainted with. He promptly reached out a fist and rapped his knuckles on the barrier, then allowed his fingers to glide along it. They turned to each other, nodded once, then kicked off the invisible barrier towards the surface of the lake.

They broke quickly and gasped for air. Far off on the edge of the lake, Geoff and Jack seemed to be sharing conversation while Ray stared out into the lake and Gavin searched in the forest behind him.

“Glass?” Ryan asked quickly once enough air had come into his lungs.

“Definitely,” the traveler confirmed. “We're probably gonna need Geoff's hammer to shatter that.”

Promptly, the two began to swim towards the edge of the lake. Ray finally spotted something and yelled to the others of their return. “Do you think that's a good idea? The glass has gotta be there for a reason. Also, did you get smacked in the face by a fish?”

“Hell yeah, I did. But I also didn't get smacked in the face by glass. Uh, I think your bleeding.”

The King touched his face to confirm he was so. “Aw, my nose!”

When they reached the shore, Jack offered a hand to help Michael out of the water; it was Ray who lifted Ryan onto shore. “Did you guys see anything? Oh, shit, Ryan's bleeding.”

Michael and Ryan quickly retold their findings to the group. Jack tended to Ryan's nose, though the bleeding stopped before much could be done. The more they spoke, the more Gavin leaned in and grinned. “That's it! That's gotta be the city!” He earned everyone's attention, and the green thief straightened his back. “The city of...” He offered a dramatic pause, then gestured his hands like he was looking upon a rainbow. “Atlantia.”

Another pause, this time lackluster, and Gavin refused to be the first to break his movements.

“Okay, cool,” Geoff said then. Gavin appeared severely disappointed he hadn't earned the appropriate response. “So, if that is Atlantia, then how in the hell do we plan to get down there? Didn't they just say that the entire thing was covered in a glass barrier.”

The thief shoved the map in a backpack (earning a snap from Ryan to be more careful with it) then placed it on the caravan. “Well, it's probably not a barrier so much as a means to keep the air in. In lore, before the city was completely flooded, the Ancients – Gods, whatever – decided to put up a barrier around the city so the inhabitants wouldn't drown. Some variants say they had enough poultry and wotnot to keep themselves alive for decades.”

Michael wrung out his shorts and kicked on his boots. “Sounds boring. Being trapped in a city for your whole life. If Ryan and I can swim down to the city on our first try, then the locals would be able to swim out of it just fine.”

“It's not that simple.” It was the King to pipe up now. “In the lore, the whole city was flooded on purpose, because in the Battle Against the Gods, they needed to find power so they wouldn't be smited so easily. And part of that power was hidden in Atlantia. Hundred points to anyone who can guess what that power was.”

Ray shoved his hands in his pockets. “The Golden Tower, right?”

“Ding, ding, ding!”

“Wait,” Jack injected quickly before anyone else could continue. “Why would the Ancients protect a city that has a piece that can destroy them?”

Ryan shrugged. “I think they were going for a more, 'ha, ha, try and stop us now without you precious piece' sort of dealio.”

“Who cares?” Gavin chirped then. He had discarded of his extra clothing (a scarf, a hood, about six belts, and some random pieces of cobblestone. “We're about to rediscover Atlantia!”

“We should just rename it Achievelantis so it can be ours,” Geoff suggested as he removed some unneeded armor.

“What? If we're gonna claim somethin', it might as well have a cooler name than Achievelantis.”

“I'm just saying.”

Silence befell them, then Ray spoke up again. “So, how're we getting down there? Are we just gonna swim, or what?”

“Seems that way.”

“Jack's lucky; he'll just sink.”

“Hey, what!?”

Michael huffed as he scanned the area littered with clothes and equipment. He snatched his sword from the pile of his current clothes and debated whether or not it would be smart to bring such a heavy weapon down. Perhaps it would be a hinderance when swimming up, but he would need it if there were any enemies down below. Finally, he opted to bring it along. “Hey, are we just gonna leave all our stuff up here with Edgar?” Edgar mooed.

“Why not?” Gavin said, standing near the edge and testing the water. “Oh, it's nice. ...Uh, ain't like anyone's gonna be coming around here. And it's not like we'll be gone for long.”

“True...”

Ryan offered a good pat to Edgar's head. “Watch our stuff, okay, girl?” She mooed again.

“Are you talking to your cow?” Jack laughed.

“Ryan, you are starting to borderline fuckin' creepy,” Geoff added.

“Are we fucking going or what!?”

And with a tad more bickering, they finally dove into the water and started towards the middle. For a long while, they swam in silence. Once they reached the centre, Michael and Ryan stopped and the others followed suit. “So, the city isn't too far down below us. It'll just take a bit of time--” He speech was cut off by Ray mysteriously disappearing underneath the surface of the lake. “I... Is he trying to get a head start on us?” Taking a deep breath, he dropped his head below the water and as met with a large staring eye back at him. He broke the surface loudly and screamed, “Guardian!” before he, too, was pulled below the surface.

 


	12. Jack Discovers a Very, Very, Very Big Mistake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one night? Oh, yes, I did!  
> On with the story!

Water swirled around him as he spun through the darkened lake. The Guardian had body slammed right into his stomach and sent him swirling through the darkness. Finally, Michael was able to pull himself straight and gain control of his movements again. When he opened his eyes, he was facing downwards and he got see Ray scrambling to get to the surface. He threw out his hand and grabbed Ray's wrist and they both swam up together.

Gavin had already pulled out his bow, but it seemed he hadn't brought may arrows with him for their underwater escapade. He knocked back an arrow and sent it flying into the lake, only for it to stop inches from it's intended target. “Bulloks!”

“We have to hurry to Achievelantis!”

“And swim in this!?” Jack pulled out one of his axes from his side and swung into the water as a Guardian passed him by. “We'll never make it!”

“We have to!” the creeper yelled, flailing his limbs wildly. “Make a break for it!” And, with that, Gavin and Geoff disappeared under the water.

“Fuck!” yelled Michael and he dunked under after them. When he glanced back up towards the surface, the three remaining bodies were rushing after them. With a mighty heave, he pulled out his sword and braced himself for incoming lasers and spikes. Most of the attempted attacks from the Guardians were simply dodged for better luck than attempting to deflect with more or less useless weapons. They were stripped down to the little that they could carry for the favour of not drowning.

It seemed that had been the wrong choice.

He lifted his sword to deflect an incoming laser; the beam struck and reflected in a new direction towards a Guardian that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It growled in agony and squirmed painfully before ceasing all movements and simply to live. The first Guardian hissed and swam away to locate a new target.

Finally, Michael had the chance to look forward towards the light, which had significantly grown in size. He ogled it for a brief moment before he slammed into the invisible barrier he knew beyond well was there. He peeled his face off the glass and shook his head, but that seemed to only make it worse. And, above all, he was beginning to feel his lungs burn but held onto the air in his lungs the best he could.

He peeled himself from the glass and stayed a brief moment to regain his strength. Perhaps he had been waiting longer than he would've liked, for he felt a hand upon his shoulder and he turned to see that hand belong to Ray, who was ushering him downwards. They used the glass as a guide towards the light which currently just appeared to look like a giant yellow block; most definitely, glowstone.

The guide was slippery and Michael had lost his touch several times and scrambled to find it again. Ray had never let go of the cloth on his shoulder. Far down below, Gavin was fending off a Guardian with his diamond bow, literally swinging at the monster in hopes of deterring it. Instead, he was met with the blast of the Guardian's beam and he'd been to slow to deflect. He was sent flying backwards against the glass block and whatever air had been inside his lungs escaped between his lips.

Panic made itself evident and the creeper covered his mouth with his hands so his body wouldn't instinctively inhale the water around him and scrambled further downward in search of an entrance. It was at this moment Michael realised that while they had found the city, they hadn't exactly found a way inside yet, either. Poor planning; poor enough that it might get them killed.

Ray suddenly started smacking Michael's arm and the traveler turned his gaze to the vigilante's attention. He gestured out towards a Guardian glaring at them, it's giant purple face turning bright yellow. Michael held up his sword again and braced himself. The beam did no damage, but it forced his back against the glass and refused to let up. The traveler struggled against the beam, attempting to turn it's deflection against itself without avail. He was slowly sliding down the glass.

The vigilante swam to the side, then realised the attention was not on him. Kicking off the glass, he whipped out his stone dagger and aimed straight for the eye. The dagger struck into and through the target. The Guardian wailed in pain then slowly started to sink lifelessly into the abyss.

Michael offered a thumps up as thanks and Ray just scrambled to keep him going. Down below, Geoff had grabbed Gavin in his arms and continuously kicked off the glass to keep their momentum high and expelled energy low. One mighty heave of the arm signaled Geoff had found something and, filled with a second wind, Ray and Michael gave all they had to swim down to them.

Guardians floated about them, but didn't sink any lower to meet them. Perhaps only three had been killed, but it seemed they didn't want to come any closer to the entrance than they were.

By this time now, Michael was desperately trying not to cry in pain. He exhaled the last bit of air in his body and all he tried to do now was keep the water from filling him up again. He found a glass fissure to kick off of, and he dragged Ray with him given the extra boost. They followed Geoff further into the darkness. And then, like that, Geoff and Gavin disappeared.

Ray grabbed Michael's hood in confusion but they continued to press on. If they turned back now, they would drown. They'd need some kind of miracle.

Or just a large, rushing current.

They were swept away suddenly, pulled by a sudden current. It was brief, for only a second, and then they were spat out into absolute fresh air, dropped several metres and slammed against a stony ground. Michael gasped for air, sucking in as much oxygen he could, almost forgetting to exhale before trying to inhale further. For several long moments, he scrambled to catch his breath; beside him, Ray was mirroring him exactly.

His eyes fell to the side, and his gaze was greeted with some kind of waterfall. The water should have been falling and filling the very area they stood, but it did not. The first reason his waterlogged brain conducted was magic.

The only thing about them was a pure glass room with an exit to each wall; three of them were waterfalls. One was not.

“Bullokin' hell,” Gavin whispered. His breathing remained laboured but he was well enough now to speak. He stood and brushed himself off.

“Help me up, asshole,” Geoff grunted and Gavin quietly complied.

Michael finally leaned up and ran his fingers through his hair. “Hey, where's Jack and Ryan?” Suddenly, they were all collectively stood and standing at the edge of the apparent waterfall, watching desperately for the shadows of the other men. It felt as though hours had passed before the water suddenly darkened and they all instinctively moved aside so the King and innkeeper could fall. Instantly, Geoff was by Jack's side, who was coughing and heaving for air. “It's all good, buddy. Welcome to air.”

“Fuck the ocean!” was all Jack could really say through his gasps.

“Guys, guys.” Ray's panic was acknowledged by everyone. “He's not breathing. Oh, shit.”

Immediately, the remaining four hurried to surround Ryan, who just laid motionlessly on the stone floor. Jack wiped his mouth and crouched, leaning his ear close to Ryan's face to listen for air. “Does anyone know CPR?” Nobody dare moved. “Are you serious? Fine.”

Jack bit his lip, glanced at everyone once (Michael motioned him to just do it already), and slowly leaned in. Before he could get too close, Ryan suddenly burst into a fit of coughs and Jack jumped back to give him his space. The King heaved for air for a few minutes before his eyes fluttered open. His eyes first met with Michael, then Jack, who chuckled. “Good mornin', sunshine.”

Ryan leaned up and shook his head gently in an attempt to clear his ears of water. “The hell happened? Did we all die? We're dead, aren't we?”

“Nope! We made it.” Gavin moved from the rest of them towards the place no one had really bothered to look yet. He exited the tiny glass room and entered upon a much greater place. “Welcome to Atlantia.”

Within the small encasing of glass was a small but true city. An emerald bridge and stone bridge lead them over the ocean below them to a town square. There were buildings that stood tall or within nooks of stone. Trees, plants, fruit, and vegetables flourished. To prove their ability to exist, some sort of sprinkle system flicked on to water the plants. The entire area was light up by well placed glow stone and oxygen filters hummed off to the sides of the barrier. The entire ground within the middle of the square was painted in the form of a star. The underwater beauty was surrounded and protected by glass that had been cracked horribly over the years and yet still remained intact.

The Achievement Hunters stood in awe at what laid before them, but what caught Michael's eye above all was, in the centre of the star, a single golden block.

“Can we live here forever?”

“I call dibs on the super giant house!”

“This is unbelievable. It actually exists.”

“Guys. Look.”

They mumbled quietly amongst themselves, in too much awe to be any louder than soft speech. They slowly crossed the bridge and up the stairs towards the centre square. Ryan veered off to something that had caught his attention. Michael opted to stay near, but it was Geoff and Gavin who approached the gold piece. “Look at it. It's so shiny.” The thief grinned and placed his hand on the block. Where his hand touched the gold, it began to glow gently. Then, slowly, it contracted to a much smaller size.

Michael's eyes went wide as he watched the odd scene unfold. Soon, the gold block was merely pocket size and he placed it within a pouch on his hip. “How did you do that?” the traveler inquired, tilting his head to one side.

Gavin smiled at him. “All the pieces of the Tower do that. The humans wanted to make sure they could transport the pieces easily without gettin' caught, so they made it be able to do shrink small enough to be hidden. Ryan probably did that, too, with the Obsidian piece.”

Ryan, who had somehow been in earshot, turned around and lifted the aforementioned piece in the air. Then he turned back to the vegetable garden growing by one of the houses.

“You know,” Jack began, returning to the centre. “Atlantia was supposed to be home to a whole town. But so far, it seems oddly... quiet.”

Slowly, everyone came to realise the truth. Aside from them, there were no such living beings in the town no longer. There was not even poultry or livestock. The entire place was barren of life.

“They probably got tired of being stuck down here and left,” Ryan mused.

“Honestly,” Ray added.

Jack shifted uncomfortably. “I dunno. Something as important as a piece of the Tower seems too valuable to just leave behind, especially since it can be apparently moved so easily.”

“Oh, Jack,” Geoff began, placing an arm around his friend's shoulders. “There could be a hundred reasons why nobody stayed. Literally anything could have happened. But now we have a piece of the Tower so we don't have to stick around long enough to find out.”

“Agreed,” said Michael. “Let's get the hell out of here.”

Ryan scrambled to them, waving his arms a bit. “Wait, c'mon, can't we just look around a bit. This is the Lost Ancient City of Atlantia. And you just wanna leave? C'mon! How about them riches, eh, Gav?”

The thief suddenly grinned. “Now your speakin' my tongue, Ryan!” And the two scampered off in the direction of the nearest house.

Michael groaned, folded his arms, and turned his back to the city. His eyes hadn't been focused on much, but they were soon met with the odd sight of a shadowy block outside the waterfall. Most definitely, a Guardian.

It didn't seem to want to move, just staring at them. Michael just stared back, though in significant more confusion than the water monster. Then, slowly, it turned and rose back to the surface.

“Okay...” Michael began slowly. “That was a bit creepy.”

“You saw that, too?” whispered Geoff. “Maybe we can stay a while.” They shared an uneasy glance, then started walking together in any direction away from the waterfall.

Ray fancied to occupy himself with a chest in between two houses. “Treasure! Sweet! Guys, I found the treasure!” And Gavin and Ryan rushed over to investigate the spoils with him.

Jack decided to simply take a stroll to keep his mind off of the uneasiness in his stomach. He came upon the edge of the city and took to staring out the glass at the oceanic scene before him. It was so darkly beautiful; salmon and tuna swam circles around the city and bioluminescent creatures shocked the squids who shot black ink in defense. “I wonder if the Atlantians had idea how lucky they were to see this.”

He took a deep breath and collected his nerves together. Even the men behind him didn't seem to have much care for the gorgeous underwater view. Regardless, he would enjoy it for now. Though it would have been much nicer of the cracks in the glass weren't so many and obstructive to the world outside. It made it very difficult to see beyond the windows to a whole new ecosystem.

Once, he stood back to examine the damage of the glass blocks. The cracks were oddly precise and shape. Almost purposely. And, with great horror, came his realisation. They were not cracks. “Incisions. From a knife?”

Many incisions, over and over a million times, to spell the same word; PROTECT.

“Oh, no.” He whipped around and sprinted back towards the centre of the city. “We need to leave! We need to leave!”

He approached just as Ray, Gavin, and Ryan were returning with their spoils. “This fucking place has no treasure. Just a punch of potions of Waterbreathing.”

Geoff picked one up to examine and bit his lip. “What are you talking about? These will be super useful! We aren't going to drown on our way back up.”

“Guys!” The urgency finally attracted the appropriate attention. “We need to leave. Right now.”

“But we're not done exploring,” the King protested, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the untouched houses that had yet to be searched.

“No, you don't understand,” Jack said quickly.

“No, you don't understand, Jack!” Gavin snapped. “We came all the way down here, and I'll be damned if I ain't leavin' without some spoils! Like hell I'm doin' all that again.”

Jack made fists and clenched his jaw, which was enough display of uncharacteristic anger to silence everyone. He calmed himself and said quietly, “I know what happened to the Atlantians.”

Before he could explain, there was a slam against the window. It was enough to cause the whole city to shake, and nearly everyone lost their balance. Gavin fell on his ass; the rest remained standing.

“Holy dicks! What was that!?”

They all turned in their own direction before Ray pointed in a direction up above the sponge garden. “Look!”

Outside the glass, glaring hatefully into the city, floated a large, white creature similar to a Guardian but doubled in size. Everyone froze. The creature slammed it's body into the glass again, causing the fissures to widen.

“Is that--”

“--an Elder Guardian!?”

“Run!”

“No, Potion up!”

Ray scrambled, handing everyone a Potion before they had a chance to run, and the Elder Guardian slammed it's body much harder into the glass. Water began to spew from the fissures and fall into the garden. Michael uncorked the top of the Potion and chugged it back without an issue. One last time, the Guardian slammed against the glass and it broke away. Water forced it's way into the hole, which exponentially grew in diameter. The Elder Guardian fell in with the water and charged for the six warriors.

Michael whipped the glass bottle away and unsheathed his sword. Gavin drew his bow; Jack pulled out his axes and Ray his dagger.

“Alright, bitch. Come at me.”

And that was the last chance they had to speak before they were overtaken by water for one last time.

 


	13. The Guys Destroy an Important Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: This entire chapter was written while listening only to Poets of the Fall!  
> On with the story!

The Elder Guardian had it's eye on Jack since the beginning. It made use of it's momentum to body slam into the innkeeper right into the glass wall that was a good ten meters behind him. They all made use of the same tactic and were washed away against the glass. The collective body weight of six full grown men and a giant aquatic monster was enough for the barrier to shatter under their weight and send them tumbling into the lake again.

Jack recovered, spinning in the water helplessly for a moment until the bottom of his feet touched the wall of the lake. He kicked off the edge and swung his axe at the Guardian, cleaving it good right in the centre of it's head. The creature screeched and retreated away swimming downward underneath them.

Michael had finally settled his spinning world and he had just barely time to move aside as the Elder Guardian retreated to gather itself. His attention turned to the surface briefly, where Guardians were circling above and watching intently, yet never daring to come near to them. He turned to Jack, who was rubbed his shoulder with annoyance but keeping a careful eye on the Elder Guardian below them.

“I gar gur to 'urfa'e!” Michael whipped around and finally noticed Gavin had been behind him. The thief pointed to the surface and Michael nodded, though he hadn't a damn clue what Gavin was talking about. From below appeared Ryan and he pulled Gavin's arm to signify to follow. Soon, the King and the thief were swimming towards the surface.

The traveler inhaled and glanced at Geoff, who currently remained without a weapon. Michael tossed his head towards Gavin and Ryan, who were on their way to the surface. Geoff shook his head and held out a hand to Jack. Without missing a beat, he handed the warrior one of his battleaxes.

Finally, the Elder Guardian glared up at them again. It's massive eye darted between it's targets, then focused on the youngest. Ray held up his dagger. Quickly, a laser shot out of it's eye and the target scrambled to move away. The four scattered away from each other, each taking their own way towards the underwater beast.

Geoff was the first to reach the edge of the lake and he kicked off the dirt wall to do it. He brought back his arm, bringing down the axe upon it. The axe was slowed by the water and only struck one of the Guardian's spines, which shot out in response and grazed the warrior's arm. He hissed.

It wasn't long now before the Elder Guardian found itself surrounded by four men, each taking a calculated swing, swimming around it as a means of confusion. It roared, firing off it beam in random directions in hopes of striking one of them. One of the stray attacks nearly struck Gavin's leg, but the thief moved aside before it did any damage.

It seemed, however, he had much bigger problems to worry about. Guardians of the smaller kind circled him and his current companion; they weren't poised to attack quite yet, but he had serious doubts they would simply let the duo through. Gavin drew an arrow into his bow and Ryan finally pulled out his spear. They wouldn't have long before the Underwater breathing potions would wear off and they would begin to drown.

Gavin unleashed an arrow into the eye of the closest Guardian, who promptly screeched and fell sideways, sinking again. The monstrosities watched their brethren fall, then turned again to their enemies and a handful charged.

Ryan lifted his spear and launched the end in between a Guardian's eye and the socket. It whipped it's head around, spear, Ryan, and all, and the jerking about was enough to cause lethal damage. With a pull and a kick, the King retrieved his spear in full.

Not far from him, Gavin was fending off his own foes with his bow. Diamond was powerful enough to the withstand blows and cuts, but it didn't exactly make for the absolute best weapon for underwater or even close combat. The arrows would not sail far enough for the creeper to be useful; he had to make due with the weapons he had.

Suddenly, a quick current caught the two of them off guard. They scrambled to keep themselves in place, somehow successful for it only last a moment. They turned their attention downwards, to the falling buildings which were cracking under the water pressure. Glowstone shattered and glowing shards floated to the top.

The Guardians moved suddenly, swimming with all their strength to the dying Atlantia. Gavin and Ryan looked one to each other, sharing a similar thought, then scrambled for the surface. They broke the surface and swam as fast as they could for land. They hoisted themselves up and Gavin immediately broke for his pile of clothes.

Ryan stood dumbly while Gavin searched his stuff for... whatever it was he was looking for. “What the hell are you doing? We have to get back down there!”

“Don't worry, Ryan!” Gavin chirped, producing an arrow from his stuff. “I got a plan.” He rushed over to the caravan and crawled inside. “You've gotta go back!”

The King pulled back the flap by the driver's seat and glared in. “Go back!? I just got out!”

Finally, Gavin scrambled back out the caravan and sprinted to the lake shore. He glanced to the mouth of the river and pointed up. There was a thin passage for the lake to reach the ocean and the rocks upon either side stood tall and strong. The sun was currently beginning to set. “Ryan, you have to lead the Elder Guardian over there.” He turned again as the King rejoined to him to understand the plan. “Trust me. This'll be top!”

“Trust you? Didn't you blow up my castle?”

Gavin stopped cold, then smiled a bit. “You know it was for good reason.”

“You really didn't have to--”

“Go, Ryan! They need you!”

“Gah, fine! I'm gone!”

And he dove back into the water again.

Far back underneath the water, Michael found himself back within Atlantia again and that was a big mistake. Guardians were scrambling about and crying in horror as the entire city fell around them. The light from the glowblocks were quickly fading and it wouldn't be long now before visibility was completely depleted. Soon enough, they would be in darkness.

Ray drove his dagger into the Elder Guardian's head, clinging onto one of the spikes as he did so. The Guardian screeched in agony and shook about in an attempt to shake him off. It fired it's beam randomly and struck Geoff across the chest. Jack abandoned whatever his next attack was in an attempt to care for the injury. Ray was shot off into one of the other Guardians, who spiked him in the leg.

Michael glanced between the two injured ones before realising the monster fixed it's eye on him. In response, he lifted his sword, pointed end first. The Guardian charged and Michael yelled, though the water stole away with his voice. With a burst of energy, he struck his sword forward. The Elder Guardian ducked under his blade and it instead struck one of the spikes. It body slammed into his abdomen and sent the traveler flying, flipping, spinning backwards through the murky waters. He finally regained himself and steadied. His eyes narrowed on the sea monster. It's large eye began to light up purple and then yellow.

The traveler lifted his sword and braced himself.

The beam shot from it's eye, and it crossed half the distance before it took a diamond spear to the side of it's eye. The laser faded away and it groaned in pain. It shook itself viciously until the spear came loose. The King appeared from almost nowhere to snatch it before it sank to deep. For the brief moment, the Elder Guardian retreated.

Ryan crawled to Michael and placed a hand on his shoulder, gesturing to the mouth of the lake. The traveler cocked an eyebrow but it was clear no explanation could be given at that moment. Simply, Michael nodded and Ryan gestured for him to follow.

Upon noticing Michael and Ryan begin towards the mouth of the lake, Geoff, Jack, and Ray all proceeded to follow the King's lead. Ryan stopped and glanced back to locate the Elder Guardian. It wasn't looking great, but as it returned, the rest of the Guardian population joined it. Everyone's eyes grew wide. Ryan immediately spun and swam as fast as he could away from them. The remainder all exchanged concerned expressions, then sprinted after him.

They hadn't made it far when Ryan suddenly grabbed his mouth, air escaping his lips towards the surface. Scrambling, he hurried after them. Only seconds later Michael understood exactly why; the potion had run out. The five of them desperately struggled to the surface before water could fill their lungs.

They broke the surface suddenly and they gasped for air. They could only spend a few second to catch their breath before Ryan started for the mouth again. With a groan, Michael and the rest followed suit.

“The fuck are we doing!?” Michael screamed as they paddled along the lake.

“Honestly,” the King yelled back. “I'm actually not sure!” Not far back behind them, the Elder Guardian surfaced with it's army of smaller Guardians. Panic was slowly settling in and Ryan immediately realised he had just put all their lives in Gavin's hands. “This was such a terrible idea.”

“This is such a top idea!” Gavin yelled from the shore line, waving his hands at them. “Just try to give 'em the ol' bait and switch, okay? Do one of those cheeky little loopity-loops!”

“What the fuck does that even mean!?” Geoff cried in between the splashes of water.

Gavin glanced at the mouth once, then back at them. “Just make sure you're on this side of the thing and they're on that side! Just do it!” Everyone collectively groaned and pressed on for it. They finally came upon the mouth and swam beyond it into the ocean. Gavin sprinted up the side of the rock and glanced down, watching carefully to ensure every last Guardian had crossed the threshold. “Alright, now come back!”

“Come back!?”

“How!?”

“Oh, for fuck sakes.”

Michael looked about their surroundings but saw nothing of use. Glancing back, there was no way to swim around them and make it back in through the small passage between river and ocean. “Fuck.”

And, suddenly, Jack spoke up; “We have to swim under them!”

“Under them!?”

“The Guardians won't swim down under a certain depth. If we swim underneath them, we can get around!”

Michael groaned, then his eyes fell back on the Elder Guardian, which was still currently looking for blood. “The Elder Guardian will follow us.”

“Fuck him,” Ray snapped. “The Elder Guardian's a pussy!”

“On the count of three!” Jack yelled. “One, two--”

And they were all under the water once more, swimming with all their might under the massive army of Guardians. As expected, they stopped following after a decent distance downward. It was far more difficult to keep their breath under the water being so fatigued from the fighting and constant swimming. Michael wished he could sigh to gather a second wind, but it seemed to impossible.

It seemed to take forever to surface again, but he was finally able to, gasping for air. He was slowly joined by the others, who also successfully completed the task, and started to swim for his life back towards the mouth once more.

Slowly, they drew closer and Gavin grew apprehensive. Finally, he knocked lit the arrow aflame with a fling and steel and knocked said arrow into his bow. He unleashed the arrow at the tall standing rocks on his side. As soon as the arrow struck the rock, it exploded and the rock split. Slowly, it tipped over the side and began to drop into the mouth. Knocking a second explosive arrow, he let it fly into the opposite side and the same result occurred.

“Swim!” Ryan screamed. “Swim, swim, swim!”

Michael looked up in horror at the falling rock, which currently was above his head. “Gavin! You fucker!” He pushed himself with all of his might to avoid the rock shards as they rained down all around him.

The Guardians halted all movement and began to back off from the avalanche of rocks. The Elder Guardian, however, persisted. The larger rocks suddenly came down upon them, one falling atop the Elder Guardian and carrying it down to the bottom of the lake. There was no time to celebrate as they were currently escaping death on their own. “Guys! Guys, I think we're gonna make it!” Jack cried somewhere beside Michael.

The lad had any time to smile before he heard a voice yell sharply. He stopped suddenly, glancing behind him. He saw nobody. Then, he ducked his head under the surface and spotted Geoff just disappear into the murky water. Michael whipped his head back, yelled, “Geoff!” and then disappeared again under the surface after the sinking warrior.

Geoff hadn't gone too far, but he was currently struggling to escape the rocks that trapped his leg in between them. Michael finally came to his side and grasped Geoff's leg with his own strength. Together, they struggled briefly to free him, but alas, it was in vain. Their combined strength was useless in water; the longer it took to free Geoff, the more rocks piled atop the mountain. It was only with luck Michael managed to avoid being sunk by a boulder himself.

His lungs burned and he could feel no energy within his body, no hard he tried. Gently, Geoff placed a hand on the young man's shoulder and they met gazes. The moment felt too long. He was torn between fighting to his last breath to save the warrior and saving his own life.

The moment felt too long.

And then a second hand fell upon his other shoulder. Spinning, his eyes fell upon an Enderman. Both him and Geoff recoiled in shock. The Enderman reached behind him and pulled out a massive, two handed hammer, which was immediately recognized as Ajax's Hammer Geoff had brought along. With all it's strength, it slammed the hammer against the rock once, twice, thrice, and the rock came loose. With a mighty heave, the two Achievement Hunters yanked on Geoff's leg and he came free.

Then, the Enderman out a makeshift crossbow and an Ender Pearl. It loaded the Pearl into the crossbow, and aimed it upward towards the surface. The Ender Pearl shot out with decent speed, broke the surface, and fell upon somewhere. The Enderman grabbed them both by the arms, tightly.

All of a sudden, they were surrounded by fresh, clean air. Michael gasped loudly, then fell ten feet from the sky. Both him and Geoff fell to the ground with a hard thud. Geoff coughed and rested against the ground, painfully grasping for air.

Michael propped himself up on his arms and lifted his head in search of their apparent friendly Enderman. A shadow dashed between the trees and vanished just as his eyes focused. He clutched his teeth, then allowed his body to fall again against the ground.

It wasn't long before Gavin found them along the shore and called the others over. Soon, they were all together once again. Geoff and Michael had regained themselves; Jack was examining the wound on Geoff's leg. Gavin stared out over the lake, eventually joined by Ray. “Sup, Vav?”

“Not much, X-Ray,” he replied. There was silence, and then he spoke again. “Ya know, we just destroyed history. A whole city, one of the greatest mysteries of the world. Just, gone.”

Ray stayed quiet and sat next to the creeper. “But we lived. That's pretty fucking awesome, right?”

“It was for the best,” Jack said then, rolling Geoff's pant leg down. “Those Guardians used to the Atlantia's inhabitants, most likely.” Everyone perked up and remained silent as Jack took his seat. “This would be most suited around a campfire, but whatever. The Atlantians were dead set on protecting the Tower piece. I guess they were really, really wishing for the power to protect the piece. Or, wishing they were Guardians, anyway. I guess their collective wishing-ness ended up activiating the power of the Tower and it turned them all into Guardians. By keeping them from the city, they'll finally be set free of their curse.”

Quietly, Gavin reached into his pouch and pulled out the Tower piece. Michael stared longingly at the piece. If something this small could have that much power, it was a wonder what the full Golden Tower could do.

In the lake, a good few meters from them, the Elder Guardian emerged from the water and it's sight fell upon the shrunken Tower piece. Gavin rose from his seat to the edge of the lake and held it out for the Elder Guardian to see. Then he close his fist around it and flipped off the aquatic creature. It stared at him for a long time, then sunk below the water again and disappeared for the last time.

 


	14. Gavin Wants to Build a Portal to Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, my writing has really plummeted since two years ago. D: Also, everything is slow and I'm not building suspense the way I would like. Regardless...  
> Also, my goal is to break 2000 hits and 100 Kudos. Let's see if I have the skill to do it. XD  
> On with the story!

They set up camp by the lakeside. Edgar moved freely about the forest, grazing the grass it could find and mooing over the lake. The crescent moon reflected off the water. Rocks were still yet settling into place; the entire mouth of the lake was filled with rocks and completely cut the lake off from the ocean.

“So, exploding arrows, huh?” Geoff asked, nudging Gavin with his elbow. “How'd you manage that one?” Everyone sat now around a campfire, recovering their strength with food from the cart and drinking as much water as they could manage. They had been silent for the most part, stuffing their faces quickly. All the swimming and fighting had exhausted them completely, and they were beyond ready to sleep as soon as their meal was done.

Gavin nodded, swallowing a piece of his bread. “Yup! An arrow and a stick of dynamite will do the trick.”

“Dynamite!?” Ryan gasped. “You had dynamite the entire time?”

“O'course, Ryan.” Gavin nodded dutifully and reached forward to heat up his bread over the campfire. “What do creepers do best? They blow shit up!” He threw his arms into the air to emphasize his words.

Jack chuckled; Michael rolled his eyes. “Why the hell do you dress up like one of those damn things, anyway? One of these days, you're gonna get mistaken for a mob and get shot in the back.”

Gavin pulled back his bread from the fire and took a bite. He chewed briefly then leaned back as though he had an exact answer. After a second of pause, he said (through a full mouth), “None o' your damn business.”

Several 'ooo's erupted from the group.

Michael held back a glare, then opted for a more relaxed approach. “Wow. Salty, Gavvy. It was just a question. Don't get so touchy.”

“Aren't you the one wearing a bear suit?” the King added then, suddenly becoming more instigator than anything else.

“Aren't you the one wearing a fucking kilt?” Michael shot back.

Gavin grinned. “Ray looks like he's ready for a gala.”

“Yeah, I am.” Ray reached down and fiddled with the rose in his jacket pocket. “Always ready to party.”

The Hunters shared a quiet chuckle then fell once more into silence and food, however only briefly.

“So, what's the plan now?” Jack asked quietly. An ember exploded in the fire and Michael jumped.

“Uh...” Ryan stood and sauntered to the caravan with a brief limp from pure sore muscles in his leg. He hurried back and opened the map with his back to the fire so the flames would light up the paper. “I'm not exactly sure. The map says something about the Dark City.”

Geoff leaned back. “The Lost City, the Dark City... I'm starting to see a trend.”

“But it's weird.” Ryan tilted the map several ways before setting it straight again. “The Dark City isn't anywhere on there.”

“That would be because it's not.” Gavin stood from his spot and trotted to Ryan. “May I?” He took the map and glanced around the area before his eyes rested on the caravan sheet. He snatched a torch from the campfire and approached the caravan. “Micool, come here and help me.” Quietly, the traveler complied. Gavin held the torch lit on one hand and offered Michael one end of the map to hold while Gavin took the other. Once the map was stretched fully, he held the torch close to the map and looked at the shadow that had been cast on the caravan cover. Everyone gathered around them to get a look at the wonder. The shadow formed a rectangle with words scribbled in the middle. “Can anyone guess what that is?”

“A rectangle?”

“The world's tallest, most rectangular house?”

“A sideways feather pillow.”

“A chair from the back.”

“How!? Where's the legs?”

“Two grass blocks stacked on top of each other.”

“A Nether Portal?”

Gavin jumped visibly and pointed a finger at Ryan. “Ding, ding, ding!”

Jack raised a hand. “I said that.” The creeper suddenly changed his pointed finger to Jack, then retreated and threw the fire stick back into the camp fire. “That is most definitely a Nether Portal. The Dark City is in the Nether.”

Ray held up his hands and stood. “Oh, no. I'm not going in there. Fuck that.”

The archer spun around suddenly, nearly losing his balance into the fire but catching himself just barely before doing so. “What!? Why not? It'll be great!”

“Because it's suicide,” Michael snapped, taking the map for himself and looking it over promptly for the first time. It wasn't a very legible map, if it could be called that. Everything was scribbled in odd writings and it took him long to understand he wasn't reading English. “Is this in the Old Language?”

“Exactly! Because it's suicide,” Ray began then as Jack looked over Michael's shoulder at the map.

“Yeah. It is. Ryan, Gavin, can you guys read in the Old Language?”

Ryan acknowledged the question and Gavin continued to argue with Ray. “Yeah, I can. Why?”

“Whaddaya mean you don't wanna go? You wanna find the tower, don't you?”

“Where did you learn to read it?”

“Yeah, but it's not gonna be found if we all die first!”

“I had to be taught everything 'cause I'm a King remember?”

“We're not gonna die, Ray. Everything will be fine.”

Geoff suddenly burst into a loud yell, earning everyone attention. Even if the yell wasn't exactly any words, it was clear enough that he was most definitely fed up. “Alright, you all need to stop talking at once. You're giving me a headache.” Everyone fell silent. The warrior rubbed his temples for a moment before sighing and opening his eyes again. “Listen. Gav and I are going to the Nether. If you don't wanna come, then you can split with Ray in the morning. But right now, let's all get some rest and sleep on it before any of us make any decisions, alright? Or... start any fights.”

Everyone stepped away from one another hesitantly, then collected themselves once more. Michael simply folded his arms. “So. Bedtime?”

The team happily came to the collective agreement it was time for bed. They all crawled into the caravan, though Michael expressed concern for possible mob attacks and the only real solution given was to take turns keeping watch. So, the traveler offered first watch and every fell soundly to sleep.

For several hours, he found himself in absolute silence. It was at that moment he was beginning to find little holes in their adventure. Ryan had decided to stay around to look for the Tower despite Gavin's severe lack of ability to remember that Ryan was supposed to be his prisoner. The sudden appearance of the map. Geoff's over-zealousness to search for the Tower. The Enderman in the lake. Details that seemed to fall apart or get lost within the story.

But what bothered him most was how well Ryan and Gavin seemed to have been getting along. Perhaps it was the fires of battle forging friendships, as it seemed to have been doing so with them all. Yet, Ryan was the last to appear and the quickest to make friends with the archer. An unusual pair; a King and a thief. He rested his head against the caravan. Most unusual indeed.

The moon was a quarter way across the sky and he decided to wake Geoff for the change of watch. Even when Michael took Geoff's place in the caravan and rested his head on the pillow, he could not sleep. Something was making him anxious; something about this whole adventure just seemed unusual and off.

Fucking hell, what happened to his damn diamond bow?

“Geoff?” Michael recognized the voice immediately but fought the urge to turn around and instead pretend to be asleep.

Someone shuffled to the back of the caravan and took a seat beside the warrior. Geoff acknowledged the other and nudged him with his elbow. They spoke low, barely so Michael would need to strain his ears to listen, as to not wake up the others. “Sup, Jack?”

“Not much.”

“Couldn't sleep?”

“Not really.” Geoff grunted and shook his head. Jack shrugged. “Thought you'd want some company.”

The air was taken over by night sounds, of nocturnal birds and critters scurrying about just outside their caravan. Edgar mooed quietly to herself. For a long time, nothing seemed to happen and the traveler nearly drifted off into sleep when sudden speaking jolted him awake once more.

“Geoff, can I ask you something?”

“Go for it.”

“From what I understand, you were searching for the Tower before anyone else was, right?”

Geoff shrugged. “I think so.”

“So, that means you have a wish, right?”

“Yeah. I do.” Silence stated the obvious question yet Geoff seemed reluctant to respond. Yet, Jack didn't press on and that seemed to be what did it. “It's kind of stupid, to be honest. The whole thing is just a mess.” He hesitated, took in a deep breath, and spoke finally. “I live – or, lived? I don't know, in Summervale with my wife. It was great. She was a woodsmith, I was a blacksmith, it was a great gig. We were perfectly happy and everything was awesome and then one day, she heard about this rumour about some kind of Tower and she decided she really wanted to go.

“She asked and asked and asked about going to look for this tower, since the cave was only forty minutes away. She thought it would be a great adventure. But I was like, 'Nah, why would we leave? We got everything we want? What would we even wish for?' She really wanted to go, but I really didn't. The mobs were getting way bad, and I was... scared. To leave the Capital. It was scary out there, and I was afraid we would get hurt. So I said no. We fought about it one night, and I should've realised how much it meant to her. We went to bed that night, and when I woke up... she was gone.”

Geoff sighed and Jack put a hand on his shoulder. There was a moment of silence before Geoff collected himself again and continued. “She took the maul, all of our diamond armor, at least half of our rations, and just took off in the middle of the night. Like that. She was just gone. When I woke up, I knew she must've gone looking for the Tower. With or without me. I thought that if I left and looked for the Tower myself, I would eventually find her along the way. But...” He glanced over his shoulder at the lake and frowned. “It was a miracle we even found the Obsidian block. If Griffon hasn't found the Obsidian block or the first piece, then... where is she?”

His eyes were drawn to the stars and he stared for a little while. Jack didn't say anything, but he hadn't yet taken his hand off Geoff's shoulder. After a few moments of silence, the warrior inhaled. “I'm going to find the Tower. And when I do, I'm going to wish to know where she is. That's all that matters to me. I just want my wife, and I want to go home.”

Jack nodded once, not bothering to argue. Michael wondered if Jack even had a wish to begin with. “Well, Geoff,” the innkeeper began. “at least you can go home and tell your wife you went through hell, literally, just for her.”

“She better fucking appreciate it,” Geoff laughed.

They fell into silence again and Michael fell into sleep.

...

Morning came quicker than he would've liked. He hadn't meant to wake up so early, but once he had realised his wakefulness, he found it impossible to go back to sleep. So, he got up and searched immediately for something to eat.

He left the caravan with a piece of bread and found Ray and Jack already awake before him. They were sitting around the smoldering fire, talking quietly to each other about whatever it was Ray and Jack talked about. Normal people stuff, if Michael had to guess.

It hadn't take long for Gavin, Ryan, and Geoff to dress in armor, feed themselves something for breakfast, and join the rest of the crew by the former campfire.

“Where the hell is Edgar?” Ryan wondered through a yawn and spent about two minutes searching for his currently missing bovine.

Gavin didn't exactly seem like the most morning people of morning people; it took him longer than anyone else to get ready. Yet, when he was finished, he had regained his cheerful exterior. “Well, lads? Are we ready to start building a portal to hell?” The response was weak and sarcastic, but it seemed to be exactly what Gavin had been looking for. “There's wood everywhere, and stone. All we have to do is find a lava pool and we'll be set.”

Michael leaned back against the tree and groaned loudly. After a battle like the one the previous day, the last thing he wanted to do was mine. And yet, he grabbed his sword and set off in search of some wood and stone to build a pickaxe.

 


	15. So They Build a Portal to Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters might slow due to real life circumstances. Thank you for your patience!  
> Also, what in the hell happened with this chapter? Not exactly what I had planned, but it'll do.  
> On with the story!

They had been digging for hours now. Michael had come up several times for the darkness and claustrophobia of underground tunnels was getting to him. He could handle caverns and he'd dug for long hours before. But it felt like he had been under the surface so much in the last few days that it was becoming suffocating. One of these days, he wouldn't be so lucky to return to the surface.

They had set up two mines and split the group. The more they dug, the more resources they recovered, Geoff called dibs on iron to restore the armor he had lost at Jack's Inn when it had been burnt down. Michael glared at Gavin, who shrugged in confusion and continued off to mine some more.

The plan had been to find lava. However, how much lava they could find so close to the lake was uncertain. There had been a couple of suggestions to move towards Mount Yth, since it had plenty of lava, being a volcano and all. There had been conflict, for some thought they were close to finding lava while others figured it would be worth their time to travel.

Ryan and Jack had been bickering the points when Geoff ran out the mine, screaming, “I found it! I found lava!”

Currently, the six of them stood around a high ledge and stared down at a large pocket of lava. There was speculation as to whether or not there would be enough lava. Geoff insisted there was enough; Jack agreed with him. Michael decided to trust him as well, now knowing the warrior was a former blacksmith. Perhaps he had been wrong to eavesdrop, but it had been done and he would just have to be careful not to slip up.

“Yes, I know for a _fact_ there is enough lava down there to build a Nether Portal.”

Gavin stood from a crouch at the end of the ledge and turned around. Finally, Michael gathered the courage to join him and looked over at the lava bed. “Well, doesn't hurt to try,” he said, finally relenting off the subject. Ryan and Ray sighed. “I'll go get the bucket!” Ryan and Ray groaned.

Michael whipped around, reaching for Gavin's arm before he could get too far. “Hell, no! I'm not--”

And then he fell.

He didn't even have time to scream; he didn't realise he had been falling until a hand grabbed his arm and he was dangling over lava below. “Oh, God!” he cried, kicking his legs as though doing so would suddenly grant him flight. He looked up and met with the green gaze of a certain creeper dressed man. He reached up with his other arm and held on tightly, glancing down (with regret) at the lava below.

“Hold on, Michael! I got you, boi!”

“Fuck! Don't let go!”

“I promise I'll never let go!”

Everyone scrambled to pull Gavin back, to pull Michael up. With their collective strength, they managed to pull the creeper and the traveler back up onto the stone platform once again. They crawled away from the edge. They waited a while to catch their breath.

“Holy shit, Gav. You saved my fucking life.”

“Yeah. I did.”

“Thanks.”

“I always got your back.” After a few moments, Michael realised Gavin was still holding onto his arm and he pulled on it, without avail. The archer grinned. “I promised to not let go.”

Michael opened his mouth to curse him out, but relented for the pure reason that his life had just been saved. “Don't you have a bucket of water to fetch?”

“Right!”

And the creeper was off, headed towards the surface again.

Ryan nudged Michael's arm with his elbow and smirked. “Yeah, not so bad, right?”

“Didn't he blow up your castle?”

The smirk faded instantly and the King folded his arms. “Fuck that guy.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

...

Jack fashioned a ladder out of the wood from the trees and Gavin returned shortly after with a bucket of water. From there, it had been more or less smooth sailing. Water would be poured onto the molton rock and steam would arrise from the collision. When visibility returned, pure black rock would take the place of the former lava.

“Perfect!” Gavin chirped, standing around it to look at it the best he could. “This is absolutely top.”

Then Jack said, “Don't we need diamond to mine that?” and time stood still.

“Bullocks.”

“Fuck!” Michael snapped. “I have a diamond pickaxe at my house!”

Geoff shook his head. “Ain't gonna do us much here, buddy.”

The vigilante stepped closer to Ryan and nudged him with his arm. “Hey, maybe you could use your Kingly power to get those guys back at the village to give us a pickaxe.”

Ryan froze and held his breath. “Uhh...” he said for a very long time. Everyone stared at him blankly. “I can't do that.” Everyone continued to stare blankly at him for a long time. “I... uh... probably shouldn't abuse my power like that. Didn't we take enough from those guys already?”

Ray threw his arms in the air. “What? You're their King! That's what they're supposed to do, right?”

“Yeah, but I mean... I don't like taking so much from them... I should be providing them with stuff, not the other way around. Well, kinda. But, you know. I don't-- I have a reputation to... uphold.”

The creeper glanced between everyone then tilted his head innocently. “What're you talking about Ryan? Of course you can.”

Ryan bit his lip and stared at Gavin as if he was trying to read his mind. “No... Oh!” He jumped visibly then laughed. “No, ha... But I have an idea. I'll be right back.” Then, he spun around and hurried back up the cave entrance.

“What the fuck just happened?” Michael mumbled. “Should someone go with him?”

“Nah!” the archer insisted. “He'll be fine on his own.”

They waited a few moments. Then a few moments became an hour. Then an hour became two hours and Ray expressed concern for the missing King. As they concluded it was time to search for him, Ryan suddenly bounded down the steps with the required diamond tool. “I got it!”

“What took you so long?” Ray questioned as they all stood upon the entrance of the King.

“I thought I saw diamond in the other mine, so I figured I would just build one.”

“And that took you two hours?”

“I ran into a few problems.”

“Um, okay.”

Gavin rushed over and stole the pickaxe from Ryan before sprinting back over and digging up the obsidian. He gave each person a chunk to forge a block with, and it wasn't long before they had managed up just barely ten block of obsidian. “If was cut corners, like, literally,” Jack suggested as they returned to the surface. “We will have enough to make a working portal.”

“Where should we build this thing?” the warrior asked as they broke into the sunlight. He groaned and squinted, holding up the block to protect his eyes from the sun. “We shouldn't just place it someplace stupid where some dumbass kids might think it's a great idea to just pop in.”

“Yeah, if dumbass kids wanna take a portal to hell,” the vigilante added sarcastically. “they should find their own lava pool and build their own. If they're gonna be dumbasses, they might as well work for it.”

“True,” Michael added jokingly.

They found a place deep within the brush of the forest and began to build there. “If we're really worried about someone finding the portal,” Jack said part way through the building process. “when we come back through, we can always destroy it.”

Gavin fetched his flint and steel, and when he returned, the portal outline was prepared.

“Jack, seriously. It's good enough.”

“Wait, just let me--”

Jack hadn't a chance to finish whatever he was doing when the creeper struck a fire within the frame. The fire burned upon the black rock for a few moments. And then, in a burst of hot light, a translucent sheet of purple mist appeared within the frame of the obsidian. Slowly, the six men gathered before the portal and watched the mist pop and bubble and fray away yet it always stayed exactly the same.

Michael shoved his hands in his pockets and frowned. “Maybe... we should wait a while before we go in? I mean, I'm all sore and tired from mining.”

“Yeah,” Ray supported quickly, glancing around at all the others. “We could take a rest. Like, ten, maybe fifteen years sounds good to me.”

Everyone turned to the vigilante who shrugged in return. With a sigh, Geoff started forward and disappeared into the portal. Ryan scrambled forward to stop him, but was far too late. Silently, he turned back to everyone, shrugged, and then jumped in after him and Gavin quickly after him.

Jack, Ray, and Michael all shared collective expressions, then stepped into the portal together.

...

He was thrown out of the portal onto hot ground. Immediately, Michael jumped up onto his feet and inhaled to yell but his lungs just burned more. (His poor lungs; first full of water and now fully on fire.) He groaned loudly, leaning forward onto his knees and coughed. Everyone around him was mirroring his actions of hacking and cough and attempting to adjust to the scorching hot air.

Finally, the traveler managed to get his hands on his hips, shook his head roughly and inhaled again. “This'll take a little getting used to.”

Ray groaned loudly from his lean against the portal. “Why did I agree to do this? Why am I doing this? I must hate myself.”

“Maybe you're secretly a masochist,” Ryan suggested jokingly.

Ray rolled his eyes. “Yeah. That's it.”

“Guys. Guys!” Jack finally earned the attention of the rest of the males. When they looked up in his direction, the innkeeper needn't say no more.

Before and far below them for as far as they could see, was the Nether. Red rock stretched in valleys and hills that rolled with fire burning endlessly atop them. Lava rivers flowed under fortresses of nether brick and fell in streams from the sky. Monsters of various size dotted the very land below them. Massive white balloons circled the sky and angry fireballs floated around the fortress without any destination. Skeletons shot each other with arrows for no reaon. The arid air was blood red, hot wind blew their hair and loose clothing, and burned their skin for every second they spent inside.

Most definitely, this place was hell.

“I want to go back,” Ray whispered, turning back for the portal. “I'm done with this.”

“Ray!”

“No! I'm not doing this! Screw this! I'm going ho--”

“Ray, move!”

He hadn't a chance to really do that before he was tackled to the side with a fireball zipping by his head. The ball exploded just beyond the obsidian frame and flames spat out in every direction. Ray and the innkeeper hit the ground with a mighty blow, just barely escaping the flames that reached for them. Michael pulled out his sword and whipped around for the source of the fireball. At first, he saw nothing. And then, he looked up. A giant white balloon soared above them and it was finally when Michael sought these balloons were living creatures with faces and all. He stumbled back in horror, absolute confusion etched into his features.

Beside him, Gavin wasted no time to pull out his bow and fire arrows at the creature. “Ghast!”

“A what!?”

“Run!”

Geoff and Ryan scrambled to help Ray and Jack to their feet and the Achievement Hunters broke into a collective sprint away from the Ghast. They hadn't run for long, in fact Ray had just looked forward when he saw the world suddenly drop from before him. He stopped, nearly losing his balance but catching himself just before. “Guys, there's a--”

He spun around just to be collided by the force of Michael, who reached around to grab Gavin for support. The creeper stumbled and the three lads fell, the gents not far behind them. The drop lasted for only a few seconds, but the impact was enough to wind them. They landed in a pile of idiots. They moaned and coughed and shoved each other of themselves. For only a few seconds they had to collect themselves and then they were off again into the fields.

The Ghast floated after them, shooting fireball after fireball in the direction. “Everyone split!” Geoff yelled. “We'll be harder to hit!”

“That rhymed!” yelled Gavin.

They split apart into their own paths but careful not to lose each other. Fireballs struck near them, but they thankfully escaped injury and, eventually, the Ghast as well.

...

They had dug themselves a cavern within the Netherrack and plugged up the hole so none of the creatures would crawl in after them. Currently, they were all sitting quietly in the cavern. Geoff held his head in his hands and the rest of them just sat normally in silence, avoiding eye contact with one another.

“This is easily the stupidest thing we've ever done,” the warrior whispered. His voice was barely audible against the crackling of the fire outside. “I can't believe we did this. I can't believe I did this.”

“Remember what this is all for, Geoff,” Jack said.

The rest of them said nothing for a good long time.

“I'm tired of sittin' here.” Gavin stood, adjusting his bow around his shoulder. No one made any move to follow. He sighed dramatically and slumped his shoulder. For a moment, Michael was certain the creeper would sit. And yet, he didn't. “Listen, guys. A piece of the Tower is out there. And we're the closest anyone will ever get to finding and completing the Tower. We've seen things no one else will ever do. We've done things people would only dream of doing. We found Ajax's forgery and defeated his golem. We found Atlantia – and not only did we  _find_ Atlantia, we saved their people. We have touched and seen and experienced history that children only hear in bedtime stories.

“If we give up now, we'll be just a couple plebs that thought about doin' something, then got tired and stopped. We are the Achievement Hunters. We're hunting to achieve. And we're not huntin' to achieve just anything. We're hunting to achieve the things no one else has ever done before! We will be written in history books. We will change the course of the world. You need to remember why it is we are here; what this adventure means to us. What this will change when we've made our wishes.

“This is the most important thin' you will ever do in your life. And if you quit now, then you'll just be another somebody everyone thought about, talked about, cared about once. And then that's it. Make this world yours! Take what belongs to you! Find what you have been missing!”

Abruptly, he rushed over to the wall and with a great few kicks, he brought it down to reveal hell just outside their door. “What lies out there is just a steppin' stone in our great plan. Don't be scared of a little heat! This is only along the road to our wildest dreams! This is only the beginnin'! No matter what happens now, you've gotta promise me that you'll never turn back. Never stop searchin'! Never give up! You promise me!? Good! Now let's go out there and show 'em what Hell really is!”

 


	16. The Nether Turns Out Not So Bad, Sort Of

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, somehow, in the mess that is my life. How? Who knows.  
> On with the story!

It was kind of funny, because as soon as Gavin finished his cute little speech about not giving up (which seemed to provide hope for the gents, although Michael and Ray shared a skeptical look), a fireball exploded somewhere behind him and he jumped about six feet in the air, bumping his head on the netherrack ceiling.

Michael burst into laughter.

Whipping around, the creeper pulled out his bow and shot an arrow at the flying monstrosity that circled over head. “C'mon, guys! If we can take this thing down, then we can do anythin' in here!”

“Fine, I get it!” Geoff yelled, grabbing his hammer and approaching the door. “Kill everything and fuckin' win. Alright, alright!” Gavin grinned and the warrior patted a hand on his shoulder. “I fucking hate you so much.” Although Geoff smiled and he rushed out into the battle with the creeper following not too far behind.

Ryan stood and started for the door. Abruptly he stopped, then turned and extended a hand to Michael. “C'mon, tough guy.” The traveler groaned and took his hand; the King hauled him to his feet and ran out the door.

Ray and Jack shared a glance. “The last time I left some place I felt safe,” the former began. “I apparently signed myself up to go to hell.”

“The last place I felt safe got destroyed by lava.”

A brief pause.

“Good point.” And they pulled each other to their feet and left the cavern.

The world outside was hot and burning but adrenaline was kicking in and Michael was sprinting full speed across the netherrack. Fireballs struck the rack and blew flames in every direction. Gavin never stopped firing arrows.

Collectively, the Achievement Hunters stopped before the Ghast, which floated about restlessly in the red sky. Gavin dropped to one knee and pulled dynamite from the belt around his waist. He tied a stick to the end of his arrow, use his flint to light it up, and fired it straight at the Ghast's face. It struck the target and exploded. The Ghast was confused but not yet defeated. It scrambled around uselessly for the moment, as though it suddenly forgot where it's enemies were.

“What the hell are any of us supposed to do?” Ryan snapped quietly, while the Ghast circled itself. “The only one who's got a long range weapon is Gavin.” To further Ryan's point, the archer held up his remaining arrows, eight in all, and frowned.

There was silence. And then Ray whispered in disbelief, “Holy shit, I have an idea.” He broke into a sprint to the right towards a wall that climb high into a ceiling. “Cover me!”

“How!?”

“I don't care, that's your job!”

Michael groaned and raised the tip of his diamond sword off the ground. “Fuck me.” The Ghast turned around once more and finally spotted the tiny humans exactly where it'd left them.

Geoff raised his great axe and started to run. “Alright. Everyone split!”

The six of them dashed each in different directions. Michael chose to circle the creature in an attempt to lure it's attention but it seemed focused on Ryan. “Throw your thingy!”

Ryan tripped over himself, which seemed to be in his better favour as a firecharge shot through where his head had once been. “No!?” he screamed, apparently really confused because he immediately threw his spear like a javelin at the Ghast. Michael opened his mouth to yell something, then decided against it and stepped aside. The spear missed the Ghast and embedded itself into the ground beside Michael, who cocked at eyebrow at the King. “Sorry!” was all he received.

His gaze cast to the vigilante, who was currently scaling up the netherrack wall. He hoisted himself up onto a higher ledge and dug his way into the ceiling. “Is he fucking running away? What is he doing!?”

Ryan laughed nervously and jogged under the Ghast to Michael and picked up his spear. “Sorry; I need this. Run now.” Michael finally paid proper attention to the situation and his gaze actually met with the Ghast's as it opened it's comically tiny mouth to expel a fireball.

“Ruh-- Foik!” He lifted his sword to defend himself; the charge struck his sword and bounced off uselessly against the ground.

Ryan stopped, turning back when he heard the clink, and then looked at Michael. “Did you just have a stroke?”

“Uh... My old accent came back.”

“You had an accent?”

“Oh, Ray, you're a fucking genius!” The currently bickering two (and the Ghast) turned their attention to Geoff, who was staring up at the ceiling above. A whole had been dug in the ceiling and a thin stream of lava fell from the ceiling. It was unfortunate the Ghast was not exactly underneath but it would serve better than nothing for now. “Alright, Achievement Hunters! Get the Ghast under the lava!”

“Achieve the thing no one's done before!” Gavin cried, like it had suddenly become their motto and he fired an arrow to get it's attention. “Quick, someone else do something!”

Jack scanned their surroundings swiftly, then burst in the same direction Ray had gone before. The Ghast's gaze followed him, but it instead was struck from behind. It whipped around, a spear jetted out of it's back and white blood oozing from it's injury. It squealed, more angrily than before, and stared down at the current three men who were waving their arms in the air and yelling profanities at it.

Gavin knocked another arrow and prepared to fire.

Suddenly, as though he simply fell from the sky itself, Ray landed onto the side of it. He drove his dagger into the things back and leaned off the edge. The Ghast screamed and tilted sideways, inching towards the lavafall. Before it could be struck by the lava, it regained itself and started towards the three men who had it's attention.

Michael lowered his sword a bit and stole a step back. “H-Hey! If you guys could hurry it up with your awesome plan, it would be great.” The Ghast opened it's eyes and then it's mouth. “Please!?”

Jack jumped onto the massive creature, digging both of his battleaxes into it's side. His weight was enough to pull the Ghast into the lava, narrowly missing the two Hunters who were hanging off it's side. The creature burst into flames and shrieked in agony. The weapons came free and both innkeeper and vigilante started to fall. Everyone scrambled to catch them, Geoff coming the closest to actually doing so. They collapsed onto him (rather than him catching them) and they became, once more, a pile of idiots.

And, worse yet, the Ghast was beginning it's descend atop of them as well.

Michael, Ryan, and Gavin scrambled over and started to pull each of them from the pile, pushing and pulling them out of the way of the dying Ghast. Collective screaming and Ghastly shrieking echoed through the netherrack valleys. Ryan pulled Jack out from under the shadow just before the Ghast collapsed onto them.

The six of them gasped for hot air, laying or leaning against one another as the massive balloon melted into the ground and was overcome by lava. Michael pulled himself away from the lava, feeling the heat on his legs begin to sear his skin simply by being close to it.

“Well done, boys!” Geoff chirped, standing to brush netherrack dust from his clothes. “That's some good teamwork if I do say so myself.”

Michael scoffed. “If you think running around like a chicken with it's head cut off and acting like fucking idiots in a wild attempt to kill a Ghast is teamwork, then I'd say it's fucking great. Go us.”

“Look.”

“What now, Gavin?”

He didn't earn a response, so he turned to the other and where he pointed. Off in the far distance was an house-like structure built entirely of netherbrick. Quietly, they all gazed at the distanced home and squinted in curiousity. “Is that a...?” Ray began.

“I think so,” answered Jack.

Like a collective thought, they started suddenly together towards the building.

Ray and Gavin spoke expansively about the Ghast's defeat, with Ryan and Jack throwing in their comments once in a while. Geoff nodded once when asked a question and Michael just made sure nothing else tried to kill them before this minute victory got to their heads. They seemed to have been left alone for the most part; they're only current nearby enemies were harmless pigmen and skeletons that hadn't quite seen them yet.

It wasn't long before they finally trekked over the small, rolling netherrack hill to reveal a decently sized town. There were two rows of houses facing each other and a great fire within the middle of the town square where villagers were gathered. They were few and many seemed to be children or elderly. Off behind all the houses was a large guard tower and a makeshift spotlight scoured nearby land for enemies.

Despite their poor houses and small number, it was a remarkable and impossible sight to behold. Let alone they lived in the Nether; they sounded, from the distance, oddly... cheerful.

“What in the fuck...?” was whispered by several of the men.

Finally, the spotlight fell upon the newcomers and the guard in the tower blew a large horn. The village people halted and the distant sound faded suddenly as they all turned to the direction of the tower and then to the spotlight's direction. Michael held up a hand to block the unusually bright light from his eyes, but otherwise remained still.

The eldest man from the village stepped forward in a few steps and motioned the men to come to him. They exchanged uncertain expressions, then complied to the request.

They were a few feet from the man. Geoff, being the self-appointed leader, motioned the other to stay back a few paces as he walked. Regardless, Michael and Gavin followed him up anyway, which inspired the others to mimic. The warrior, ultimately, didn't care.

“Good evening, sir,” he greeted politely, though he almost sounded fake as a result. “I am Geoff, and we are--”

“--from the outside?”

Geoff stiffened from the elder cutting him off, though the old man just smiled anyway. The warrior hesitated for a moment, expecting the other to speak, though nothing came. Awkwardly, he said, “Yes.”

“We hold lodging for those who journey to the Nether for one reason or another. Food, shelter, weapons, you will find it here. But do not stay long. We have a schedule to upkeep.” That seemed to be the end of his welcoming speech, for his expression grew much darker. “Any mischiefs or danger caused to my village will be met with a great punishment. We have been settled in the Nether and every movement much be made towards our survival. And, we will see to it we will survive, with or without you.”

Ryan cast a concerned glance to Jack, who just shrugged.

“Alright,” Geoff began again. “We promise we won't do any harm to you.”

“Then stay the night and rest. A journey through the Nether is long and perilous.”

The Elder turned on his heel and started towards his people again. Everyone seemed to fall quiet, so Michael said quickly, “We're looking for a piece of the Tower.” And the old man stopped.

Slowly, he turned to them. “You seek the Tower?” Nobody moved and the elder scoffed. “Good luck. But you won't find it here.”

“But the Tower is here, innit?” Gavin asked. “The Dark City. The piece has got to be in the Dark City. There's no other way.”

The elder narrowed his gaze. “It is not here. Search elsewhere. Speak more of it, and you will be gone.”

And the creeper fell silent. Michael nudged him hard in the ribs with his elbow. “Nice, dipshit. If it isn't here, then where is it?”

“I feel like he's hiding something,” Ryan or Jack whispered.

“Just lay low.” Geoff turned to them and kept his voice low. “A place like this, an offer like this, we never should've expected to find this in the Nether.”

“I thought this city would've been abandoned,” Ray added. “Like Atlantia was.”

“Achievelantis,” Geoff corrected.

“Who gives a shit what it's called!” Michael snapped and everyone rushed to shush him. “Whatever. Do whatever you want. I'm fucking exhausted. I wanna rest.”

“I reckon he knows where the piece is,” the archer concluded. “He just ain't tellin' us.”

“We should really find the piece,” Ryan whispered.

“Alright, alright, I get it!” Geoff threw his arms in the air. “Find the piece, get the piece, worship the piece. Fuck. Fine. Can't do a little sightseeing.”

Jack laughed. “In the Nether!?”

“It is very bright,” Ryan joked. “Fire and stuff. Who wouldn't want to go see the amazing Niagara Lavafalls! One of the seven wonders of the Netherworld!”

Geoff whipped around suddenly and smiled at the elder. “We will stay the night.”

The elder nodded appreciatively and gestured to a local man to see to them. He approached them without a word, bowed quietly, and lead them towards the inn. Unwillingly, they followed and Jack's eye was drawn to the great bonfire in the centre of the square, where the children played tagging games and the women gossiped to themselves. Unconsciously, he frowned and followed the others into the inn.

 


	17. Gavin Breaks a Promise Michael Didn't Think He'd Keep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did someone turn out the lights? This chapter's a little dark.  
> On with the story!

“This is so weird,” Ryan admitted after a while. They had been shown rooms, though they hadn't been expecting so many visitors. They were forced to split and share rooms and no one really cared who was picked with who. But Geoff and Jack decided to share a room, and X-Ray and Vav decided to bunk for the night, so all that remained now was Ryan and Michael. They had sat in their room together, talking small talk to one another about their adventure thus far and the Nether.

“It's more awkward than weird.”

“It's awkward because it's weird.”

Michael leaned up from his laying position from his bed and propped himself up on his arm. “These guys don't trust us. I don't even think we're allowed to leave our rooms without them breathing down their necks.”

“Or at all.” Ryan currently was leaning against the wall beside the window and staring outside as the children danced around the fire and the men cut up meat of a recently hunt to share amongst the others. “I don't think they like visitors as much as they try to appear.”

Michael nodded in agreement. “If they hate visitors so much, then why do they let us stay here? Common courtesy?”

“I doubt that,” the King mumbled darkly. Michael smiled awkwardly. “You never know what sort of lengths someone might go through to protect something.”

“I'm assuming you mean the Piece.”

“No.”

The answer was abrupt and dour. He looked away from the King in search of anything else to talk about but he was at a loss. He fell back down on his bed again and stared up at the ceiling. “At least we get to rest,” he said quietly. Ryan continued to watch hell outside.

...

Michael woke up and he hadn't known he was sleeping to begin with. When he opened his eyes, the room was dark but when he tried to picture it before, he remembered it was always this dark. Gentle snoring echoed from the bed on the other side of the room and he could see Ryan's silhouette through the darkness. He'd fallen asleep with his arms over his head and he appeared so much like a man Michael nearly forgot he was truly a King. Yet he seemed so mortal and human. Well, of course, because Kings were mere humans born in the right place at the right time.

Maybe he was beginning to get the stupid idea in his head that they were becoming invincible. Gavin and Ray were rubbing off on him.

He glanced away and stood, reaching for his sword beside his bed. When he looked outside, nothing seemed to have changed. How much time was passing? An hour? A day? It was impossible to tell without the sun and the moon and the stars. And without the change of the world outside, it was beginning to freak him out.

Finally, he drew bored of room he resided in and headed for the room door. He opened it slowly, peering out quietly for any sign of the innkeeper. Alas, he saw none and so he exited and shut the door behind him.

He drew down the steps quietly, watching for any sign of life. A part of him was worried about being caught but he could summon no reason to support his anxiety, so he let it fall to nothing but a simply bad feeling. Ryan had really drove his worries home.

When he finally came upon the bottom floor, a hand fell on his shoulder and he whipped around, jumping nearly three feet in the air. The owner of the hand mirrored him exactly. “Fuck!” He blinked a few times to centre his vision and he slapped a palm against his face. “Dammit, Gavin.”

The ever familiar smile crept along his lips. “God, Michael, you've given me a heart attack!”

“You had a heart attack!? Holy hell!” They took a moment together themselves, then Gavin startled to chuckle and Michael shook his head in disbelief. “I fucking hate you. You're a piece of shit.”

“Aw, c'mon, Micool. Don't be mean.”

“Fuck you.”

And Gavin laughed again.

It wasn't long before they were outside again in the hot arid weather and he squinted from the bright red rock that scattered the ground below them. He allowed his body time to adjust before he continued on forward towards the bonfire, the creeper not far behind him.

For the first time, he was able to take in the world around him. The netherbrick houses that were rectangular and nearly identical and the Ghasts that circled the outside sky but never daring to near. Far off in the back of the village was a sudden drop Michael barely made out. If he hadn't been looking, he would've assumed the land went on into a lava sea that stretched on forever beyond the cliff.

Laughter caught his attention and he looked again to the gathering of people in the centre square. In the sea of faces, he caught a familiar one behind them all: Jack.

They met gazes and they nodded to each other. Michael moved around the people, some who stared cautiously, towards Jack and leaned against the wall beside him. Gavin sat on the ground beside him. “What's up?”

“Not much,” the innkeeper replied. “Just thought I'd watch the locals. They're interesting.”

“Interesting or...?” but he was at loss for the right word.

Jack nodded anyway, as though he knew exactly what he was referring to. “No one has left the fire since we got here. I don't think any of them have even slept yet. Or there's very many more of them than we think.”

“Are you sure?” the archer whispered.

“Yeah.”

“Definitely strange,” Michael admitted. Slowly, the fear he had been pushing aside was fighting it's way to centre stage. “Maybe we should leave after all.”

“Nonsense.” They turned, startled by the sudden third voice, of which belonged to the elder. “Stay a while longer. It seems your friends are quite tired. None of them have woken up yet.”

Michael squinted and Jack nodded once. The elder smiled sourly at the traveler, then started again towards the fire to meet with his people. “Something's wrong. Really wrong.” Jack said nothing; Gavin nodded. “I'm gonna look around a bit. I'll tell you if I find anything.”

“I'll come,” Gavin said suddenly.

Jack frowned. “Should I come with you, too?”

“No,” Michael replied quickly. “One of us will attract attention; two will rise suspicion. Three will just be a clusterfuck.”

Jack grabbed his arm and pulled to make sure Michael was looking at him. “Be careful, you two.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He pulled his arm back but nodded again to reassure the innkeeper.

Jack nodded back and the lads walked away from him back towards the inn. It crossed Michael's mind to look back, but he decided against it. Jack would be there when he returned.

Subconsciously, they shadowed the elder quietly, sticking to the houses and corners they could hide behind. The guard in the tower called an incoming skeleton and several archers shot it down before it could recognize it's enemies. The elder pressed on, and so did they.

It wasn't long before the elder opened the door to the building along the outside of the village and entered without a glance over his shoulder. It was too easy and it made the traveler worry. He looked once to Gavin and they nodded simultaneously, stalking into the building together.

The doorway opened to a large room, similar to that of a shop, yet it seemed there was nothing for this shop to sell. There were cabinets placed up against the back of the room and a long table that Michael would've thought perfect for a cashier stand. But there was nothing; no money or wares or anything to suggest use or human life. Though not even dust seemed to have settled on the table or empty shelves. The place was kept.

Between the shelves and the long table was an obvious trapdoor and lead deeper underneath the shop. He stepped around the table and approached the door, peering down through the grated floor for the elder or... anything, but it was too dark and murky to see far below. He peered up at the shelves and took a quick glance over them, noting the red paint that stained where product must've been. He ignored it and gently opened the trapdoor, descending down the ladder to the basement. Gavin whispered something high up above but Michael couldn't hear him so he ignored him.

Once his foot touched the stony floor, he turned... and wished he hadn't.

Blood ran in rivers down the wall where bloated corpses were strung up and cut apart. Whole limbs and organs missing, dissected like a science experiment. The missing things were put on plates and platters and, in horror, he concluded exactly what he was looking at. He covered his mouth and fell back against the ladder, right as Gavin was sliding down the bars. “Micool--”

And with a loud crash, the creeper fell on the traveler and they collapsed together.

Gavin leaned up, clutching his head. “What're you doin', you bugger! You--” And he stopped, sniffing the air first in curiousity then allowing the scene before him to register in his brain. Immediately, he fell over the other way and dry heaved against the ladder.

“Good evening, boys,” a voice greeted from the darkness, though Michael had a feeling this evening was not going to be even close to good. He pushed Gavin off him and he stood suddenly. The creeper scrambled to his feet to join him, but could not let himself look at anything in the room. The elder stepped forward from the shadows with two odd-looking men in tow.

“What the fuck is going on?” Michael snapped, reaching back for the sword over his shoulder.

The elder opened his arms. “A feast. Do you know how hard it is to find food in a place such as the Nether? This place is hell. A true hell.” He stepped forward and gestured behind him to a scroll on a wall. “Millions of years ago, when the Gods' armies failed to please them, they cast those failures away to be punished for eternity. Those failures turned their backs to the Gods and, though dark magic, discovered a portal that lead back to the Overworld once more.”

Michael put a hand on Gavin's shoulder, who was still heaving and leaning against the bars, but never took his eye of the elder. “What? Is this some sort of super villain monologue before you try to kill us and then we kick your ass? What point are you trying to make here?”

“Wait,” the creeper managed through his heaves and dry coughs. “Sh.”

“When we, the Failures, returned to the Overworld, the humans begged us to keep watch over their precious Tower Piece in the Nether. So we, happy to strike back at the Gods however we could, agreed to watch the Piece, for a price. The price of blood. The blood of those who seek the Piece. The blood of those who dare trespass onto our grounds. Food for us, a delicacy in the Nether... Human flesh. And look who has stumbled into our dear territory.”

“Run,” was all Gavin said.

“Okay,” Michael replied.

They scrambled up the ladder suddenly. “Get them!” screamed the elder. The two men charged for the ladder and climbed up faster than the two of them could communicate. Michael pushed Gavin through the door with all of his might and hauled himself out after him. He reached down for the creeper's arm and yanked him to his feet, sprinting full force through the door and into the hot air once more.

They wasted no time racing to Jack and pushing him in between two buildings before they were spotted by their pursuers.

Michael scrambled for the words to speak but Gavin beat him to the punch. “Get the others, get the Piece out of the bonfire, and run! We'll distract them!”

“The Piece is in the bonfire!?” Jack repeated uselessly as his brain tried to keep up with the sudden panic. “What the fuck!?”

Gavin nodded. “This is the Dark City! Home to Failures, the former underlings of the Gods. Blood thirsty, flesh eating, cannibalistic rejects! They're gonna bloody eat us alive! Just go get everyone and we'll keep 'em off your tail for the time being. The Piece is in the fire.”  
“Why!?”

“Don't bloody ask why now, Jack, just fuckin' do it!”

Jack inhaled, looked between the two of them, then reluctantly nodded. “Try not to die.”

“That's the plan,” Michael mumbled. Jack patted Gavin on the shoulder once, then ducked away behind the building. They exchanged glances and that sinking feeling overcame him once more. “Ready, Gav?”

“Whenever you are,” was the answer.

Without another word, they broke out into the centre of the square. Michael drew his sword and Gavin his bow. “I got seven arrows left. Let's make 'em count, boi.”

“Sure thing.”

The entirety of the village stood then, turning their attention to the wanted men who stood now with their backs against the far end of the village. They stepped back further and further, drawing the armed village people away from their precious, million dollar bonfire they had been so obsessed with keeping. Archers, four in all, were lining up along the buildings, arrows trained and ready to fire. Many of the village men fashioned makeshift weapons of swords and smithing equipment whilst the women and children hid within their huts. It seemed Jack's theory of there being many more of them hiding somewhere had been the true theory.

It remained only them now against the Dark City.

The elder stepped forward before his army, then threw one arm to the air. “Find the others, and kill them on sight!” And nearly half the army left in search of the remainder of the Achievement Hunters.

Silence fell with a thud, with only the crackling of fire to fill the void.

Suddenly, a break in the stalemate, a villager man rushed forward and Gavin shot him down immediately with an arrow. There was a stunned silence. And then arrows flew from the enemy archers and chaos ensued.

Villager men rushed forward as they were distracted with avoiding the arrows and drew up their weapons to bash and slash at their enemy. Gavin brought up his diamond bow to meet with the melee weapons, but it was Michael who pushed them off. “Focus on the archers! I'll handle these guys!”

And so it was done; Michael swung his sword wildly between the many men who took their precious turns so they would not accidentally strike down their own ally. Gavin drew arrows and fired them at the rangers who could fire back four arrows against his meekly one. Yet, they always missed and he did not.

They were pushed back; Gavin tried to keep his distance from the melee fighters but there was only so much the traveler could do to prevent them from passing him and getting to the archer. “Michael! We have a problem!”

Michael pushed back another guy and dared to look over his shoulder at his partner. “Which problem!? The cannibal problem or the Piece problem!?”

“That problem!”

His finger pointed to the sudden drop that just fell into a long, dark drop into absolute nothingness. “Fuck. I knew that was there, too...”

He turned his attention back to the situation at hand, though they seemed to have relented for the while, whispering to each other about the cliff and how best to avoid it. Michael inhaled sharply though his teeth and shook his head. “Gav, how many arrows do you got?”

“Three,” was the solemn answer.

“Fuck.” Their backs were against the wall and it seemed Michael didn't have much of a choice anymore. He would need to aim to kill if he wanted to survive. He took a deep breath through his nose and narrowed his eyes at the situation. “Okay.”

And the battle started again. The men rushed him, two at a time this time, and he fought back will all of his might. He pushed and slashed and trained himself to kill those before him. Once, twice, thrice, an arrow zipped by his head and struck an enemy in the eye, head, throat, and they would slump to the ground. Stab and slice, it remained only him now in the fire of fight, though Gavin would smack someone upside the head with his bow once in a while.

The flow of his blade and the rush of blood, almost as though he was someone else. And, for a brief moment, he felt victory in his grasp. Then an agony struck his ribs and he stumbled. And he collapsed, just a few inches from the edge. He pulled his arms into his body and groaned loudly as his fingers brushed the wooden shaft of an arrow. Gavin yelled somewhere to his left and the creeper was suddenly in front of him, shaking him to earn a sound of consciousness. Michael forced himself to groan again to let the other know he was still alive, but unable to form words.

Behind Gavin, the elder stepped through the remainder of his men with a longbow taller than him. He stared at the two and huffed. “You have killed my men. My people. Those who I have taken the responsibility of caring for. And you slaughtered them!”

“You attacked us first, you bloody dunce! We're defendin' ourselves!” Gavin stood, brandishing his bow with two hands like it was a sword. He swung at the elder blindly, but the two men beside him stepped forward and pushed him back with their blunted weapons. Gracelessly, he fell backwards into his place again.

Somewhere far away, Geoff screamed something to Gavin, who found the gusto to stand once more. Behind him, Michael forced himself to stand and held out his sword, his freehand pressing against his arrow wound. “Are they coming?” he asked, barely able to get his voice to work. Gavin, wordlessly, nodded. The sound of battle barely halfway between the cliff and the bonfire echoed to them.

So, they tried again.

They swung their swords wildly, without any grace or force. And they would be pushed back again, and again, and again. A second arrow flew by Michael's head, ducking so the thing just barely took the place of his head.

A villager stole his chance to deliver a blow to his stomach and send him flying backwards over the edge. He inhaled, barely a chance to yell, to process this information. His vision was burred with sudden netherrack, and then he was jolted upwards as a slender fingers wrapped tightly around his wrist. Looking down, he watched his sword disappear into the deep, dark abyss below him. He turned his attention skyward and meet eyes once again with the creeper who, for the second time, saved his life. “Fuck, Gav,” he choked, chuckling briefly. “I can't tell if you're the fucking angel of death or a lucky ass charm.”

The archer smiled weakly and set his free hand to pull the other up from below. Michael dared to reach up to grasp the edge, but his attention was brought to the looming shadow over Gavin's figure. It brought up his hands over his head, the firelight glinting off the metallic blade it held between it's fingers, then forced it down straight through the creeper's heart.

“ _Gavin_!”

The archer's eyes grew wide and any strength he had before was lost suddenly. He slammed his chest back into the ledge but did not release the grip on Michael's wrist. Somewhere far away, someone screamed.

Michael felt his blood run cold; Gavin's expression suddenly fell blank as he registered the agony that shot through his body. “Oh, my God...” the traveler whispered. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Gavin. Holy shit.” With a burst of horrible strength, he reached up with his free hand and scrambled for the edge, but his fingers only scratched against the netherrack and bits of dust fell back in his face again. “No, no, no. Please, don't. Oh, my God.”

The creeper struggled for a lungful of air and, of all the things he could have done in that very situation, with all the things he could have said or done in that breath, he chuckled. Michael froze and stared back at him in silence. Blood began to pour from Gavin's lips and dripped onto the traveler's face, running down his cheek towards the abyss. “Listen, Michael."

“No. Don't.”

“I believe... you'll do something no one else has done before.”

“No, fucking shut up.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't you fucking die, you son of a--”

Gavin let go.

And Michael fell, and fell, and fell.


	18. Michael Meets People Who Live in the Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More chapter. It's a lot of talking and a lot of nothing happening. x.x I'm sorry for this.  
> Also, I don't know a damn thing about Lindsay's speech pattern and I actually feel really bad about it. x.x If I don't quite get her characterization right for this one, I am really sorry.  
> On with the story!

He woke with a start and expected fire and darkness and agony. He screamed anyway, even though he didn't feel anything yet. He couldn't really remember why he was so loud or why he felt so strongly about screaming as loud as he could but he did it anyway because it just felt sort of right to do.

Slowly, his voice faded away to absolute silence and the tweeting of birds and rain against a wooden roof replaced the crying that had once been there.

Michael sat straight up now, staring at the wooden wall before him, trying desperately to remember the last moments of his life. And, yet, he drew a blank, though the memory sat there on the tip of his tongue like a forgotten word. He finally found the strength to move, but doing so was agonizing. His entire body ached and it took all of his energy just to look around the room.

There was a large window to his right, which opened up to a rain distorted image of large, thick trees that reached into the light gray sky. Leaves bounced to the rain and danced in the wind that wound itself between the trunks. An ocelot clambered between branches across the vision. Down below, there was no ground he could see. Beside his bed was his sword, propped up against a nightstand with a glass of water atop it, a white candle and a box of matches. To his left, a wooden door made of jungle bark and a dresser decorated with seashells and fruits. The room was small, intended for a single person with limited things, but it was cozy and warm and the bed was comfortable, and thus he would not complain.

He looked down at himself; he was dressed in new clothes. Bandages were wrapped around his arms and he could feel them under his new shirt. He reached up to gingerly touch his head and the bandages were there, too. Slowly, he lowered his hand and grabbed the blanket that fell around his legs, pulling the sheets away to look. He was dressed in shorts, and where there should have been skin was gauze that wrapped and wrapped around his limbs. For a moment, he was still and staring at the condition of his legs. Slowly, he reached forward and touched the bandages, pressing lightly to test for pain. A twinge shot up towards his spine and he flinched visibly, shocked by the sense. At least he could still feel. That was relieving.

There was a click and the door opened slowly, revealing a woman with pink hair and an armful of medical supplies in her arm. She walked a few steps before she noticed him and she started (as did he), her entire being jolting with surprise. “God!” she gasped.

“Fuck!”

“Holy shit, you're awake.”

“Who the fuck are you? Where am I?”

“Um, I--”

And then a third person ran into the room, brandishing a dulling machete. “Is he a serial killer!?”

The woman snorted, managing to gather herself enough to respond simply. “No, he's not.”

“Oh, good,” the short man sighed, lowering the weapon and chuckling sheepishly to himself. “Listen, okay? We have no idea who you are and we didn't wanna be, like, bringing in a crazy axe murderer or something. You know?”

Michael stared at them silently, then pressed his hand against his head and groaned. “I feel like I've aged ten years,” he mumbled.

“Tell me about it,” the woman griped as she made her way around the bed to his side. She placed the medical supplies on the nightstand and began to sift through them. “How do you feel?”

“Like shit.”

She scoffed. “No surprise.”

The other man approached the bed and leaned against the dresser. “Dude, you're so lucky to be alive right now. I can't even tell you.” He shook his head and ran a hand through his green-dyed hair. “We honestly thought you were gonna die.”

The woman pulled a bottle of capsules from the medical bag and handed them to him along with the glass of water. He took the capsules and examined them thoroughly. “We just saved your life,” she said then. “It would be kind of redundant to kill you now.” Michael thought about it, then shrugged and quietly took the pills. “So, do you have a name?”

He set the water on the table beside him and, for a moment, considered a sarcastic response because of course he had a name, but relented. “Michael,” he said simply.

“Cool,” she said absentmindedly as she started to search through the bag again. “Lindsay and,” she gestured across the room. “Jeremy.”

He turned his attention to the other man, who flicked his wrist in greeting. “Sup?”

“Not much,” the traveler replied instinctively, then realised he wasn't exactly supposed to answer that question. So, he looked away awkwardly and tried to glance out the window but his eyes fell on Lindsay instead. “I'm sorry, but... what in the fuck is going on?”

Lindsay mumbled something to herself then gave up and shut the bag. She turned his attention back to him and shook her head. “Sorry, what?”

“Where am I? How did I get here?”

There was a moment of silence as she looked at Jeremy, who just stared right back at her. She inhaled and stood straight, opting to lean against the wall. “Well, long story short, we found you in...” She looked again at Jeremy who just looked between the two of them uncertainly. “...the Nether.”

And, like a bitch slap across the face, full colour memories blurred through his mind and he slammed his hands against his head. “No! Oh, no.” He groaned loudly and buried his face in his hands, trying to organized this sudden flood of thoughts coming back to him. The Dark City, the Achievement Hunters, Gavin, the mission, the Tower, the wish. It was like watching a weird movie that just turned to black without an end. “Okay. Listen.” He hesitated for a moment and took his hands off his face, daring to meet their shocked expressions. “Did you find anyone else while you were in there? Anyone at all?”

They exchanged another set of glances and Lindsay inhaled, more frustrated than anything, so it was Jeremy who spoke up now. “No. No one else. It was just...” He finally looked from Lindsay to Michael and shrugged. “It was just you.”

The traveler remained silent for a moment, then fell back into his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He processed the information, trying to make some sort of decision. No, the answer was obvious. He just wasn't quite sure how to go about it. Finally, he sat up again. “Well, you found me in the Nether, right? So you've got to have a Nether Portal around here somewhere, right?”

“No, we destroyed it,” Lindsay said quickly. “We can't have shit like that coming through into the Overworld. It would be... an absolute disaster.”

Michael groaned loudly again, then tore the sheet off of his legs. He turned his body and kicked one leg over the edge – then cried out as scorching agony crawled up his muscles into the rest of his body. He cursed and grabbed his leg roughly in an attempt to soothe the pain but it seemed to only make it worse.

Lindsay and Jeremy sprung into action, more Lindsay than the later as she pushed him back and tried to lift his leg back up into the bed again. “Don't move! You're not healed yet!”

Michael didn't bother to protest and just focused on laying back in the bed once again. He just laid still and did not move, waiting until the pain faded away to a dull throb, then exhaled and mentally rejoined the two again. “Well, that was great,” he mumbled, then brought a hand to his forehead again. “What in the hell happened to me?”

Once again, Lindsay opened her medical bag and started to search for something else. “When Jeremy said you're lucky to be alive, he wasn't kidding. I don't know what happened to you, but you really managed to do a number on yourself.”

“I fell,” he said then, quieter now. Slowly, he explained the situation to them, recalling only the important points of the situation; why he was in the Nether, how he fell. He left out everything about the others and about Gavin, for his own sake. He didn't bother with names or the such, figuring this all could make for a better story when he had the energy. Though, he did speak his own desire; “I need to go back and find them. God knows what they'll do.”

“You aren't going anywhere,” Lindsay said when the story was over, by this time, she had managed some tea and Jeremy was the one who stayed back to listen to him. She had set the tea on the table and told him to wait for it to cool before trying to drink it. “Not in this condition. And certainly not into the Nether.”

“It can't be that bad,” Michael reasoned, gesturing to his legs. “Just get me a health potion from a witch doctor, I'll give it a chug, we'll go get the others, come back, have a party or some shit, forget about the Tower, and everything'll be fine. It's gonna be great. You'll be there, Jeremy will be there, Gavin'll be there, it'll be awesome. Big fuckin' barbecue, we'll have chicken and beef and we'll laugh about this whole thing like it was some stupid teenage days.” By the end of his speech, he was a tad breathless, mostly for the fact he had spoken so fast he forgot how to breathe properly. Lindsay inhaled slowly, held herself still for a moment, then sat on the only clear spot on the bed by his legs. “Why are you sitting? Aren't you a doctor? When doctors sit, that's not a good thing.”

“Michael, listen,” she said quietly. “You will be lucky if you ever walk again.”

“Health potion!” he snapped, throwing his arms in the air. “Are you deaf, woman!? For fuck sakes!”

Her brows furrowed and she was annoyed for the moment, before swallowing and letting it go. “We already tried that. The health potion didn't do anything.”

And he fell into silence. He looked at Jeremy for conformation, as though his word could be any truer than hers, but he shook his head. “You were burned by hellfire, man. I... honestly don't know what to tell ya.”

Quietly, he fell back against the headboard and just let his gaze fall into nothingness. He couldn't really summon any solution or thought to himself, so he didn't bother trying. He pushed himself forward gingerly and laid back down in the bed again, drawing the blanket up to his shoulders. “How long have I been asleep for, anyway?”

“Three days,” Lindsay replied.

Michael scoffed and rolled over. “Not enough,” he mumbled, half a joke and half a hint, which the others seemed to catch.

Jeremy and Lindsay looked at each other once last time, then the woman stood. “If you need anything, just holler,” she said.

“Whatever.”

And, within a few moments, he was alone again. He thought he would lie awake for hours, but it was only a few moments before he fell back asleep again.

...

Another three days passed and Michael had gotten to know the two rather well. They were woodsmen who worked in several week shifts, both with their own homes and families to return to. Their job was to collect wood and various jungle-related supplies and store them until they were ready for transfer. (Hence, the machete from earlier.) It was mostly a self-run business that Lindsay ran nearly entirely on her own until she hired a few hands to help her as her business expanded. Jeremy, obviously, was one of her employees.

From what Michael understood, what Jeremy lacked in height he made up for in strength and could cut down trees quicker than most the others, thus explaining why he was out with her. He was happily engaged to a woman back in White River, who had her own job. While he admitted the job took him away from his fiancee and was rough on their lives, it would eventually pay for their wedding in the coming Spring.

On the second day, Michael forced them to help him out into the living room since the tiny room was becoming too much for him. When he started walking again, he felt less pain than he did before, though it was still agonizing to take these steps on his own. Though, he had found preference in the pain of his legs than the weight of overbearing thoughts and worries that we beginning to overwhelm him when he had nothing else to do.

The entire place resembled that of a glorified treehouse; they were much higher up than Michael realised. Natural light came through all the windows and there were torches on the wall and candles on the table to light when night fell. There was a small kitchen just to the right of his room and a living space where the front door opened to the rain forest beyond.

It turned out Michael had been staying in Jeremy's room and Jeremy had been sleeping on the couch (that of which there was two) and Lindsay's room was on the other side of the kitchen. There was a bathroom to the left of his bedroom, and far below the treehouse, there was a very reinforced storage area which all the wood and general objects were kept. That ended the rather quick tour of the temporary home. Michael figured that if this place was meant to be lived in for several weeks, it would have been bigger with more to do, but as it stood, they were there to work, not relax.

It had been six days now, and he was dreading he would never know the fates of the Hunters in the Nether. Whether they were dead or alive. He would have to live on like this for the rest of his life and he felt very bleak when he realised just how nearly permanent his situation was. When they had to go home, what would he do? He couldn't stay here forever.

“I can get you a carriage back home,” Jeremy offered when Michael expressed this on the final day. “Where do you live?”

“Near Summervale.”

“Is anyone waiting for you?”

“No. I live alone.”

Jeremy hummed disapprovingly and thoughtfully, both at the same time, and rested a finger against his chin. “I guess we'll have to figure something out. I mean, is there ever been a day in the history of mankind where we didn't figure something out? It'll be fine, man.”

Michael nodded in agreement, then turned and looked out the window. It remained only trees and animals. Lindsay had given him a bird book so he could cross off the ones he saw as they passed, but he quickly grew bored of that and just spent the entire day trying not to think about anything, trying to distract himself by counting the dots within the wooden planks or narrating sarcastic demonstrations of basic every day life when no one was around, making fun of his lack of ability to do the average things he used to do a million years ago but couldn't anymore, such as going to the bathroom or making himself lunch.

Humour and high-energy antics became his thing quicker than he could help it.

“Are you always this loud?” Jeremy asked from the kitchen after Michael yelled at some birds to stop fighting and fuck off before he dared leave to kick their feathery asses.

He fell quiet again and glared at Jeremy in disdain, though the other didn't give any reaction. Disappointed, Michael huffed and fell back. “I'm going insane. I can't do this anymore.” The dwarf sighed and disappeared into the kitchen for a moment before reappearing with a sandwich.

At this moment, Lindsay came out of her bedroom with a clipboard and pen. “You tell those fucking birds what's what, Michael.” He snickered as Jeremy took a seat beside him and took to bite into his sandwich.

“Hey, can I have one of those?”

“You can have half of this one.”

“But that's not a whole sandwich.”

“I just made this one. I don't want to go make another one.”

“Fine. It's fine. I don't...”

And silence fell again.

Lindsay took her own place on the second couch adjacent to theirs and continued to check off and write notes on whatever paper she had. Michael remained quiet, not bothering to look at either of them. The short man ate away at the sandwich until half was left and offered it to the traveler. “If you don't mind bite marks.”

Michael laughed and took the sandwich. “Kinky,” he joked and ate the rest of it, even though he wasn't as hungry as he was acting to be. Regardless, he managed to stuff the whole thing in his mouth and he set the plate on his thighs gently. The pressure didn't hurt at all and he had been poking and testing his legs over and over and over again in hopes of seeing signs of healing or improvement but it was too difficult to tell. “Thanks for not letting me die,” he said quietly, laughing anyway to ease the awkwardness of the sentence.

“It was Lindsay's idea,” Jeremy replied, gesturing to the woman as she checked off one last thing and offered a smile.

“Well, I mean, I felt like being a good person. I have yet to have any regrets and would say that it was a great decision on my part.” She nodded once firmly. “I mean, saving someone's life is just the smart decision to make when you can do it.”

Michael nodded once, emotionless. A part of him disagreed; perhaps Gavin might've lived if he'd let him fall instead.

 


	19. Michael Has Tea With a Witch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've found quite a bit of time to myself to write, so I'm taking the advantage and posting chapters as I finish them. ^^  
> On with the story!  
> (Also, seriously, shout out to the one who's been commenting on all the chapters. You have literally made me the happiest writer in the world right now. <3)

“Hey, Michael! Check this out!”

But there would be nothing to check out because Jeremy wasn't there. He was invisible, like always, and it was beginning to seem like Jeremy had a weird obsession with invisibility potions. He would even put a mask over his head and walk around as just a floating head, telekenetically picking up objects and dancing around with them like an idiot.

(Though Michael had an inkling that he was only doing it as an attempt to keep Michael occupied or distracted, or to cheer him up, because his raging humour and high-energy antics were beginning to turn into hours of laying in bed or staring out the window with a despondent look on his face.)

But when Lindsay came back, a week later, Michael tried to duck behind the island counter only to fail miserably and end up on the floor. “Michael!” she yelped and ran around the island to his side. “What are you doing standing? How, even?”

The traveler pushed her back and grasped the edge the counter, hauling himself up with his arms. “One step at a time,” he mumbled as he stood once again.

Michael finally forced himself to walk again. It hurt less than it did before, though he wasn't sure if it was genuine healing or just increased pain tolerance. Regardless, he had been spending the last few hours wandering the house on his own, trying to get himself to relearn walking just as he did before. Even though he was in agony, he pushed himself to walk until his legs turned numb and he couldn't feel anything anymore.

“Wow,” Jeremy mumbled as Lindsay helped him stand. “Guy's got drive.”

“Guy's got a death wish,” she snapped. “If you keep trying to move around like this, you'll reinjure yourself and you'll never recover.”

“I don't give a shit,” he shot back, turning back around and slapping some cheese onto the sandwich he was making. “I'm going back to the Nether and I'm going to find my--” He stopped, mumbled something about mayonnaise on his hand, and wiped it on his shorts. “Gonna find the guys.” He put the last piece of bread on his sandwich and rested against the counter. “I can do it now.”

Lindsay and Jeremy exchanged a last look before she sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. He glanced back at her and she smiled. “I think I know someone who can help. If you think you're so tough.”

...

They had packed their stuff together for a long time. Michael felt sort of bad for dragging them away from their business like this, but they insisted on helping and he wouldn't complain. (After all, he was still barely teaching himself how to walk again; they were absolute impressed by their progress, though it was in question whether the health potion had lingering effects or not.)

In new clothes again, made for long distance travelling, and of course with their weapons for protection, they exited the front door, which opened into a wide deck. In front of the deck was a number of vines that had been tied to the railing. Lindsay carefully untied a vine and handed it to Michael. “You probably don't weigh that much, so you won't have to worry.”

“What are you talking about?” he questioned as he took the vine and looked it over in his hand.

“Well, as you can see, we don't exactly have much ground to walk on.” She untied another vine and held it in both of her hands. “Which is good for you because it doesn't seem like you can do much walking anyway.”

Jeremy grabbed his own vine and gestured to Michael to do exactly as he did. “Hold on with both hands, keep your knees bent, together, and your legs in front. If you can. I dunno if you-- Oh! And whatever you do, don't land square on your feet. Especially not in your condition. Try to roll a bit, okay?”

Michael nodded dumbly, though he couldn't understand exactly what he was talking about. Lindsay glanced back at him and grinned widely. “And the most important rule of all? Be yourself and have fun!” With that final statement, she jumped off the deck and swung with the vine through the jungle. Just as it was picking up again, she let go and sailed through the air until she grabbed another one, which would carry her in which every direction she pointed her feet. She yodeled as she swung and her voice echoed through the trees.

The travelers jaw fell agape and he laughed. “Wait, I'm not--”

“Yup!” And Jeremy pushed Michael off the deck.

Michael hollered as he started to fall, gripping onto the vine with all of his strength so he wouldn't just slam straight in the ground (that he still couldn't see). His legs trailed behind him uselessly but the power from his fall seemed to be enough to get him up high enough to grab the second vine. He held out his hand, holding his current vine close to his body, and just barely managed to grab the vine hanging from the tree.

As soon as he let go, he was falling once again.

“On his first try!” Jeremy yelled way far behind him.

And then Michael realised he had no idea how to steer. He just held the vine close to his body and tried to rotate his weight to follow Lindsay through the forest. And, despite how rapidly his heart was slamming against his chest, it was sort of fun and he was (thankfully) getting the hang of it quite quickly, even without the use of his legs. He let them fly around however they wanted to move; as long as he didn't try to use his muscles, then they didn't hurt, despite being flung around like rag dolls.

Jeremy brought up the rear, howling in excitement as they drew from vine to vine. There were a few moments where Michael screwed up, and he fell a good few meters below, but his desperation to keep his life always managed to bring him another vine and another way back up to the top. (Perhaps because his life depended on it, he found himself naturally skilled at it. Surviving, in truth, had always been something he was good at.)

Lindsay yelled something over her shoulder but the rush of the wind in his ears made it impossible to hear. “What!? What did you say!?”

But the vine broke through branches and into sunlight and... not much else. He sailed through the air without another vine to grab and he instinctively let go, flying across the sky and falling for a very long time. All he could see now was the sea for miles beyond his point as he spun heels over head into a pool of water.

He scrambled for a bit to find which way was down before finding the sea floor and kicking off (painfully) towards the surface. Trying to use only his arms, he pushed himself towards the shore where Lindsay was sitting, absolutely soaked from head to toe. It wasn't long before Jeremy appeared as well, yelling, “Sup, bitches-- Fuck!” And landing in the water with a splash. Michael laughed heartily in a vain attempt to ignore the burning in his legs.

Lindsay pulled him up into the shore and Jeremy got up there himself. “Did you have fun?” she asked, examining the bandages on his legs.

“Uh, yeah,” the traveler replied, trying desperately not to touch his legs with his hands.

“That's our job!” Jeremy wrung out his shirt and grinned. “Swing from tree to tree, cut out some wood, throw it in our bag, and take off again. It's sweet!”

“The trees are rather tall, so we only take what we need off the top of the trees.” She gestured with her hands a cutting motion. “Cut 'em down to fuckin' size.” Michael nodded and his eyes fell behind her, landing on a cottage out on the water. When she realised he wasn't look at her anymore, she turned around. “Yup. That's where we were headed. Just a few meters off, as always. C'mon, big guy.” She helped him to his feet and let him lean against her for support. Together, they started towards the cottage.

As they approached the waterside cottage, the vision of what he was looking at became clearer. A wooden house with a bridge leading out to link the home to the land and fences were built all along it to keep those who traversed it from falling off. The closer he came to it, the more he came to recognize it's familiar shape like the one's he'd seen throughout his travels, all the rumours, and the few of them he approached.

Most definitely, it was a Witch's Hut.

He said nothing about it as they approached, and again rang the words, “We saved your life. Why would we kill you?” but then again, they just pushed him off a deck with a pair of useless legs and expected him to survive. Alas, he did, but that was not the point.

Lindsay led the way up the bridge to the door and knocked on it soundly, three times. There was a wait, to which Michael took the time to look around and examine his new surroundings. For the first time in nearly two weeks, he was outside again.

The door opened and revealed a rather young and beautiful woman in a large black hat and a darkened robe. “Who dares knock?” she mumbled. Lindsay said nothing but smiled and waved and the witch smiled a bit in return. She opened the door further so they could enter. “Come inside.”

The entire house was dark inside, with a few lit candles and some small windows to let the light in. There was a potted plant with a single red mushroom on her table; a crafting bench to the left and an empty cauldron to the right. By the cauldron, several shelves of ingredients were laid out on display. Cobwebs decorated the corners of her house and dust was collecting on the bookshelves around the room. She had a bed in the far left. It seemed this was the only room in the hut.

Michael limped to the centre of the room and the witch offered him a chair. Gladly, he thanked her and took it. “What brings you here?” she asked, turning her attention to Lindsay. She spoke quietly and smoothly. Her eyes were hazel instead of purple. She wasn't the type of ordinary witch Michael was used to.

“I... need to ask a favour of you,” Lindsay began quietly. The witch cocked an eyebrow but remained silent. “His legs. Can you... do something about them?”

The witch turned to Michael and glanced down at the soaking bandages, now useless, that covered everything below waist. She sighed an gestured to Michael to undo them and let her see the damage. Quietly, he removed his boots and undid what he could of the bandages on his own, and it wasn't long before Jeremy as at his side, helping him.

And this was the first time Michael dared to look at the injuries on his legs.

They were scorched to hell and back. His skin was black and blood had caked along where the flesh and muscles had gone. He threw his head back and stared up at the ceiling to keep his stomach in check. He didn't want to look again, so he didn't.

“What happened?” the witch asked, kneeling down to get a better look. “This doesn't look like any normal burn.”

“He was in the Nether,” Lindsay began before Michael could explain. “He fell and he burned his legs. We tried a health potion, but it didn't do anything.”

“Hellfire.” The witch leaned back and rubbed her chin against her finger. “I can't just... 'fix' this injury, but perhaps I _can_ lighten the burden a bit.” She stood and approached her cauldron, sifting through her ingredients. Michael glanced at Lindsay, who inhaled and remained an uncertain expression on her face. “I can create two potions for you. One to repair some of major muscles in your legs and one to completely eliminate feeling within them.”

“Wouldn't that be dangerous?” Jeremy scratched the back of his head. “Would he injure himself further? I mean, c'mon, we told him he'd never walk again and he practically told us to fuck ourselves by walking anyway.”

The witch hummed and pulled a few things to throw in the cauldron. “He _is_ reckless,” she mused to herself. She stirred the ingredients in the cauldron then cursed herself for forgetting the water. She poured a glass bottle of water into the cauldron and reduced the amount of ingredients she had placed in. “But perhaps that's exactly why he should be given it. It's clear he is a fighter, if that sword on his back has anything to say.”

Michael shifted uncomfortably and furrowed his brows. “Could you guys stop talking about me like I'm not here?”

The witch drew quiet and produced a glass bottle full of a golden elixir. “This should do the trick. Take this and tell me how you feel.” Hesitantly, he took the bottle and stared through the top of it uncertainly. “Don't worry, it only has a kill rate of 6 of 10 people, which is better than I can say for most of my other potions.” His eyes grew wide and he stared at her in horror. Abruptly, she laughed and patted him on the head. “I am just messing with you. Drink it.”

He scoffed and swung back the drink quickly. Oddly, it tasted more like dark chocolate and kiwi with a very strange and bitter aftertaste. “Ack.”

The witch crinkled her nose but she seemed used to it. “That is the taste of magic. Appreciate it. The good stuff never tastes, well, good.”

“It tasted fine 'till the--”

“Okay, listen.” She unplugged the drain within her cauldron and it could be assumed the remainder of the potion was dropped out unto the sea. “The magic will only heal the major muscles in your legs and allow you to walk again. But it is not permanent and that will be all you can do. You must be careful. Running and jumping are completely out of the question. If you reinjure yourself, I can't continue to give you magic as your body will eventually build a resistance to it.” Michael cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Lindsay, who nodded. “So, try not to do too much. Just take it easy. There might even be a chance the small muscles will heal alongside the larger ones.”

Solemnly, the traveler nodded.

“So, what do I owe you for this?” Lindsay said then.

The witch paused and tapped a finger against her chin. “A blaze rod.”

“We were just in the Nether!” Jeremy groaned, throwing his arms into the air and letting them drop back to his side again.

Lindsay, on the other hand, didn't seem moved at all. “Done.”

“Hold on.” Michael leaned forward then, wincing at the protest his legs were giving him, though it seemed that the pain was quickly receding. Perhaps magic worked slower than a normal health potion, but alas, it was most definitely working. So, he stood then and everyone moved to stop him. He shrugged Lindsay off and met the witch's gaze. “Magic is rare in this world. It doesn't take a scholar to know that. And you're one of the only witches in this world who won't attack anyone on sight, so I have a question to ask you.”

The witch glanced between the two woodsman behind him, eerily uncomfortable. “Of course,” she said slowly, meeting his gaze again. “What?”

His eyes narrowed at her and he took a deep breath. “I need to know where the third Piece of the Golden Tower is.”

Lindsay grabbed his arm and yanked him back, nearly throwing him off his balance. “Are you stupid!? Did you not hear a thing she just said?”

“Do I look like I care?” he snapped back. “If we finish the Tower, I can just wish my legs to be normal again. No big fuckin' deal.” The witch stared at him for a long time, jaw hanging slightly. Finally, he turned back to her and met her gaze again. “The only other magic on this planet now is the Tower so you must know where the Pieces are. Magic is linked to magic, right? Isn't that how it works?”

The witch looked to Lindsay, who was shaking her head violently behind Michael. Quietly, she reached up and brushed her fingers through her pinkish hair. Then, she took a step to the side and met his gaze again. “Fine. But if you really want to know where it is, you have to give me something in return.”

“Name your price.”

“I want your sword.”

Silence.

With a sigh, Michael undid the buckle in front of his chest and he threw the blue blade onto the table. “Tell me where it is.”

She looked to Lindsay, to Jeremy, and then to Michael once again. With a deep breath, she picked up the sword in her hands and said, “The End.”

“No, no. No.” Lindsay put a hand on Michael's shoulder and pulled him around to look at her. “You are not doing that. You are not going to the End.”

“Of course not,” the witch said then. “I have his sword. He won't do anything without it.”

Michael snorted, threw his head back, and laughed. Loudly. He swung around and threw his arms on the table, startling the entire room. “I don't know who the hell you think I am, but I have a mission to complete, some assholes to save, and a lot of shit to make up for. If you think I'm going to just abandon them and leave them behind to burn in hell, then you clearly don't know the first damn thing about me! I'm not making the same mistake twice. Never again.”

Everyone fell into a silence. After a moment without reaction, Michael stood straight again. “Take my sword if you want, but it won't stop me from making another one. It won't stop me from going to the End and getting that Piece. It won't stop me from building the Tower and making the damn wishes I need to set everything straight again. And I promise you, I fucking will.”

The witch released her grip on the sword, then set it down on the table. “There's magic in you. I'm not sure what from, but it's there. I can't stop you now. You're practically destined for this.” Gently, she pushed it back over to him. “Find the Tower and restore it's power. But first I must ask... Do you remember the scripture of Pyro's Den?”

Michael hesitated, curious as to what in the hell she was referring to. Then, like a distant memory in hazes of light and shadows, it came back to him, if briefly. “Something about a place within the reach of fingers -- I remember that part because it sounded stupid -- when the gold is stacked in the Overworld. I can't remember exactly.”

She lowered her head and sighed. “You'll find the truth somewhere out there. I hope you know that there is more to this journey than you wanted. This, Michael Jones, is only the beginning.” She brushed her hair behind her ear. Michael flinched and opened his mouth to ask how she knew his name, but she spoke quickly again before he could. “There is an Enderman out there; try not to fear him too much. But he is the one who knows the truth to the Scripture. When you find him, be sure to ask him about it.”

“Why can't you tell me now?” Michael reached forward and pulled his sword off the table, swinging it around his back again. “Do you know?”

“I've interfered with this enough,” she said quietly, turning around. “My time has not yet come. When comes time for my part in this, I will do so. But until this, the Tower's magic and my own cannot cross paths just yet. In due time, you will understand.”

There was a moment of silence, then he shrugged. “Makes no difference to me, anyway.”

The witch said nothing as the door opened and shut and the traveler disappeared.

Lindsay looked once to Jeremy and then to the witch. “We can't let him go alone,” she started, but was cut off by a wave of the witch's hand.

“Don't worry about the rod. We'll meet again soon enough. Be with him; you too have a part in this.”

The woodsmen looked at each other then at her. “Thank you, Meg,” Lindsay whispered.

The door opened and closed again, and the witch was alone in the darkness.

 


	20. The End is Nigh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took so long to update! Anyways, here's the new chapter and, would you believe it? The end is truly nigh!  
> Also, guess who's been playing a lot of Pokemon GO lately? Me. I've got caught up in a few things, hence the delay. I apologize!  
> On with the story!

Walking was a breeze but everything else was painful. And even then, after hiking for so long, he still needed to stop and rest and regain himself so he could press on further.

He had come to the conclusion now that he was lost. Traversing the Nether and entering in and out of portals turned him around and after walking outside and realising the world around him for the first time in a while, he concluded he really had no idea where he was going.

“What's the plan?” Jeremy asked as they joined along the beach between the rainforest and the sea.

Michael hesitated, then turned around and chuckled a bit. “I dunno. I guess we go back to the Nether and find the others.”

“How're you sure they're still there?” Lindsay put her hands on her hips. “Do you know how long it's been since we found you? They must've found a way out by now.”

Michael hummed uncertainly and glanced out at the sea. For a moment, he was silent. If he were Ryan or Geoff – or any of the boys, what would he do? If he were Ray, he would leave and go home. If he were Jack, he'd try to build a shelter. If he were Ryan, he would look at the map. And if he were Geoff... “I'd move on and hope I meet with the one I'm looking for.”

“What?” the woodsman said simultaneously.

“We had a guy who came with us who's looking for his wife. She left to look for the Tower, and he thought that if he went after it too, he would eventually be reunited with her. We could do the same thing.”

“Did he ever find his wife?” the dwarf questioned. Michael shook his head and Jeremy's shoulders dropped.

“It's better than nothing,” Lindsay sighed, walking past Michael along the beach. “If we're going to the End, we'll need to find Enderman. And a lot of them.” She turned and smiled at him. “So, let's get Huntin'.”

Weakly, but hopefully, he smiled back.

...

Ender Hunting was a difficult and dangerous hobby for many of the adventurer's Michael came across on his travels a million years ago. He'd taken a few shots at the game, running through to hunt Enderman and collect as many Pearls as he could, but he'd never really made it within the better ranks. Those bastards at the top were insane.

The game was simple enough; Hunters would be released into a biome of any kind and they would spend a good week trying to hunt down and collect as many Ender Pearls as possible. It involved a lot of skill and even more luck to get a decent amount of Pearls. One could kill ten Endermen and earn only four Pearls, and someone else could kill five Endermen and receive all five Pearls. The latter would win, for the Pearls were greater.

And, of course, this would always beget cheating and stealing and, more often than not, the other competitors were more dangerous than the Endermen themselves.

While those days were behind him, they had become quite useful with the recent advancements towards finding and hunting Enderman. Especially between Jeremy's invisibility potions and Lindsay's weapons and apparent ability at traps. (“Well, we do have to catch our own food to eat it when we stay out so long. It kinda helps to know a few things about setting up a trap if you want to survive in the wilderness for a while.”)

Within a day, they had already trapped and slain five Enderman. The next day, they had found only three.

And between the five they caught, they only managed to pull five Ender Pearls from the collection.

“This is not going very well,” Jeremy mumbled as they laid under the stars of their second night away. They had a small fire going, trying desperately to make sure nothing caught fire nor that it suddenly began to rain on them again. Michael was laying down with his arm over his eyes; he remained silent for his legs were aching badly from the walking. While they were healed enough to walk normally, hiking was still difficult. “Have we ever been to this part of the Jungle before?”

“No,” Lindsay replied, passing him a slab of cooked beef. “I think we're about a good couple miles from the house.”

“This rainforest is fuckin' huge!” Michael gasped, throwing his arms in the air. “Endermen could hide anywhere.” Even when he was in the competitions, the area was more or less contained (even if they could just teleport in and out however they pleased) and the place was often teeming with Endermen that a place or organization wanted cleared out for bigger, human plans.

Here in the rainforest, there were far less.

“We still need some of those Pearls to help us even find the Stronghold,” Jeremy groaned. “This whole plan is a fucking mess. It'll take forever to get to the End. They'll beat us to it before we even get there.”

Lindsay was quiet for a moment, then her eyes widened. “Jeremy, you're a fucking genius!”

“I am?” Jeremy glanced at Michael, then at Lindsay, and he puffed his chest. “I mean, I am!”

“Michael thinks that they'll continue on to find the next Piece of the Tower, and they should already know where to go. They probably already have all the Ender Pearls they need to get into the Portal. If we find the Stronghold, maybe we'll find them, too.”

Michael nodded in strong agreement. “It definitely doesn't hurt to try,” he concluded. “The only problem now is that we need Blaze Powder to make the Eyes of Ender.”

“Don't worry about that.” She reached into her bag and withdrew a Blaze Rod from her backpack.

Jeremy blinked hard and shook his head in surprise. “You brought that with you?”

“I thought it might come in handy,” she answered. “I brought everything to make a potion's stand, but I think we have a better use for this rod.”

“I didn't realise you had a potion's stand at your house,” Michael commented. Lindsay smiled weakly but said nothing in return.

And they spent the night forging Eyes of Ender over the campfire.

...

Morning came quickly. The exhaustion was familiar when he woke, and it was so familiar he expected to wake up alongside Ray with Ryan and Gavin screaming in the distance, Jack making breakfast, and Geoff trying to convince him to brew up some alcohol as well. Instead, he was greeted with silence and he was a little disappointed. It was nice to wake up naturally instead of chaos dragging him back from slumberland but at least it was never boring.

And he waited several hours for Lindsay and Jeremy to wake up as well.

“How does this thing even work?” Jeremy was tossing the thing in the air and catching it again, after a while of trying to get it to take off into the sky and guide them to the place. “Did we make it right? Are you sure it isn't broken? I dropped it earlier.”

“Eyes of Ender are unbreakable,” Lindsay sighed and turned the Eye around in her hand. “but I'm not sure what's wrong with it? It's not like we can just stop and buy a Guide on Ender Eyes. Very few people just up and take off to the End, and even fewer make it back. Whole, anyway.”

Jeremy sighed. “Listen, we've only got a couple shots at this. We didn't even have enough Blaze Powder for all the Pearls we found.”

Michael rolled his eyes and held it out, hoping that it would simply work by will. When he was met without avail, he threw his head back and yelled angrily. “Stupid fuckin' Eye doesn't even work! What the hell is this bullshit? What's that? You wanna go to the End? You wanna make the Tower? Nah! Fuck you! No one gets the Tower. It's bullshit! The Tower of Bullshit! Fuckin' A!” He whipped the Eye into the air and screamed, “Go fuck yourself!”

Jeremy and Lindsay scrambled after the Pearl before it was lost in the brush. But, instead, at the peak of it's flight height, it stopped dead in the air. Everyone stopped.

The Eye remained for a couple of seconds and then shot over their heads in a new direction. Collectively screaming and falling over themselves, the three of them sprinted after it.

They hadn't very long before the Eye exploded into thousands of shards and they fell upon the ground. They halted and Michael stared at the ground in confusion. “I thought you said they were unbreakable!” Jeremy snapped and Lindsay's hands went to the air.

“Listen, this is just what I heard, okay? I'm not the Ender Expert here!”

There was a moment of silence before the short man nudged Michael on the arm. The traveler turned and Jeremy offered another Ender Eye. They met gazes and smirked.

...

It was their third Eye of Ender when it disappeared into a cave system and disappeared into the ground. It didn't shatter like it did before; instead, it simply vanished as though the rock did not exist within it's plane. Michael threw the last one and it did the exact same thing again.

“I guess this is it,” he said finally. His voice echoed off the limestone walls.

Jeremy reached forward and brushed his fingers against the stone, pulling back in disgust when he realised they were wet. “Gross.”

“The Stronghold is definitely somewhere in here.” Lindsay stepped forward and glanced around the darkness with a frown. “We're gonna need some light.”

“I got it,” Michael said and disappeared into the rainforest again. He came back a few minutes later with three lit torches. He offered one to the each of them and, without another word, they began inside.

The darkness was overbearing and the cave was narrow, descending down steeply into the Earth. Trickles of water ran from the ceiling into the stony floor below and the further they traveled, the greater the stream grew. The walls and the floor were uneven and each of them slipped a number of times. Michael once lost footing all the together and he tumbled down the long descent, into a mild cave. The stream joined into a river that rushed through the centre. And across the river on the other side appeared to be the entrance to a wider, smoother path.

“We can easily jump across that,” said Lindsay, but when she looked back, she remembered how short Jeremy was and how injured Michael was and she bit her lip in embarrassment. “It's fine, I'll boost you over.”

“Are you sure about that?” Michael asked.

Jeremy slapped him on the shoulder. “Yeah! Lindsay's awesome. She gives me boosts all the time.” He stopped, inhaled, scratched his head, and looked away. “Wow, that's actually kind of embarrassing.”

“What for? I'm gonna need it, too.” The traveler glanced at Lindsay as she got on one knee and placed her hands, palms up, on her leg. “Ready?”

“Whenever you are.”

Michael jumped once in place, then jogged over to her and stepped on her hands. With a mighty push, she sent Michael flying over the river to the other side. He flipped once in the air and landed semi-gracefully on his feet into a crouch, though he stumbled and nearly lost his balance when his muscles groaned in protest. He waited a moment until the pain subsided and he stood again, turning to the others. “Kay, send Jeremy over, now!”

And so Jeremy mimicked the same action and made it over without a problem.

And then was left Lindsay, who was looking up and down the river for the smallest part. “Don't worry, Linds, you'll make it!” the traveler yelled, but she didn't look anymore reassured. Not that she seemed less assured than before, but he was curious if she was beginning to feel doubt or just looking for her best chance to make it across. Her expression was hard to read.

“I think I got it,” she concluded then, and sprinted for the edge. She jumped at the very last second and sailed through the air. When she reached the highest she could, everyone realised she wasn't going to quite make it. Both men scrambled to the edge with their arms held out and they each grabbed her arms as she came down again.

The river yanked her one way and they were pulled along with her, all three yelling in horror as the rushing waters dragged her under along with them.

As soon as he was under the water, all sound and sight ceased from his existance. He was only cold and pushed, spinning through the darkness with only a single thought running through his mind; _air_. He felt his leg brush against stone and then his fingers break the surface. Expelling all his energy, he pushed himself towards that direction and he found himself surrounded by colder air instantly. The sound returned and colours whizzed by his gaze. Jeremy was screaming and he could see Lindsay just in front of him. He struggled to keep himself above the surface.

And suddenly, he wasn't in water anymore.

For a moment, he floated in the air, absolutely bewildered by the sudden change of environment, but without any light, he could not see what he was looking at. He hung in the air and then began to fall into eternal darkness. This time, even he screamed.

The stop was sudden but soft, catching the three of them before they fell too far down. The world about them stopped and all was quiet.

“What the hell did we fall on?” Jeremy whispered. “Who's touching me?”

“Me.” Michael felt himself shake though he wasn't moving and he concluded the shaking he felt was from Jeremy. He pulled his hand from his chest and felt the thing he laid on gently between his fingers. Soft, but sticky. “Is this a net?” he mumbled.

“No,” Lindsay injected quickly, urgency rising in her voice. “It's spider web.”

Michael above him and spotted red eyes in the distance staring back at him. “Oh, shit!”

“Why do bad things keep happening to us!?” Jeremy cried and the web shook faster than it did before.

They all began to struggled against the web, but it was strong and stuck to their clothes and skin and would not let go. Breathing became squeaks of laboured panic as the spiders drew closer to their accidental victims, struggling with all their force to escape without avail. “It's too strong! I can't break free!”

“Neither can I!”

“Oh, God, I don't wanna die this way!”

Michael paused for the moment, catching his breath as best he could. Dread was chilling him – or perhaps it was the river water that was soaking him. He rested his head against the web again and inhaled deeply. Was there anything they had, anything at all, that could help?

And then his eyes shot open. “The Ender Pearl.” He focused his energy on freeing one of his arms with all of his might. “Lindsay! The Ender Pearl! Is it still in your backpack?”

Lindsay took her eyes off the hungry eyes for a moment to think. “Yes. Yes! It is! But I can't get to it.”

No matter how much he struggled against the web, he could not free his arm. “Son of a bitch.”

“Michael, you're sword!”

The traveler tried to crane his neck to look at the hilt, just barely catching the glimpse of red light on the hilt near the buckle on Lindsay's backpack. “I see it!”

He began to shift his enter body sideways, rocking the web side to side. Jeremy chuckled weakly as one of the spiders stumbled sideways and into another one.

The hilt of the sword caught the buckle but released when the web rocked back the other way. Michael grunted and pushed the web again, the hilt pushing one of the buckles out of place and half the bag opened. A few items dropped out of it but not the Ender Pearl. The traveler cursed.

“Guys, they're right there!” Jeremy whimpered and Michael felt his hand touch his unintentionally.

“How am I supposed to undo the second buckle? I can't reach it.”

Lindsay huffed, leaned forward, and slammed backwards with all of her strength once, twice, and a few more things fell from the bag. “Is it working?”

“Kinda.”

“Guys!”

Michael glanced up and the red eyes were basically upon them now. The mandibles were mere inches from his face and he wondered if he was the first person to know a spider could breathe. On the corner of his eye, a small, orb-like item fell from the back and he gasped. “Grab hands!” he yelled suddenly.

Jeremy and Lindsay each grabbed what they could of him.

The spider inched closer, opening it's mandibles, lurching to bite.

And then they slammed against hard, solid ground.

They groaned painfully, rolling themselves over to make sure they were truly free of the web. They had fallen into a cavern where the river became a waterfall and fell upon a pool of endless water. Light was pouring in from a place behind them. When Michael opened his eyes and looked up, he could see the red eyes staring down at them again. They hissed and chirped and scrambled about their net in confusion, but it wasn't long before they began to crawl down the walls.

“Move, move!” he ordered and pulled them to their feet. Together, they sprinted for the opening where the light came from. They entered the room and stopped to examine their surroundings.

The entire room was decorated in wood and torches lit somehow. Rows upon rows of bookshelves and dusty spider webs filled the room. There were even chairs and couches to sit and read if one so choose. “These books must be over a million years old,” she whispered, brushing her fingers over the spines of them. “All written in old tongue. These are priceless. They're worth millions!”

“Not worth our lives!” Jeremy yelped, grabbing Lindsay's arm and pulling her down the middle. “Run! Hurry!”

They broke into another sprint through the library towards the ladder at the end of the room. Michael motioned them to hurry up the ladder, waiting for them to ascend before going up himself. Once they were on the second floor, he turned back and spiders were pouring in through the gap in the wall.

He turned forward and saw where the wood was rotting in the corner and opened a big enough hole for them to crawl into. Jeremy grabbed a torch and they scrambled through the hole.

It opened up to a large and dark hallway that stretched on for a while until it opened up to a lightened room. Lindsay immediately ran to grab a large boulder that had been sitting in the corner for a while and began to push it. Jeremy handed Michael a torch and helped her in rolling it to block the wood rotten hole in the middle of the wall.

They stepped back from the boulder and waited a moment, praying that the spiders would not come through. After a long moment of nothingness, they found themselves breathing easier than before. Michael leaned forward onto his knees as the ache began to settle back in his muscles again and he huffed unhappily. Lindsay put her hand on his back. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine.”

“Guys.” The duo turned to Jeremy, who stared down the long corridor towards the lighted room. Without speaking, he started to walk towards the room. Lindsay and Michael looked at each other, and then followed him as well.

The room was bright, lit with torches. It was smaller than the library but bigger than the other rooms they had been trapped in. There was not much to look at save a set of small stairs led up to the centre of the room and an unusual symbol that had been carved into the stone on the right.

They all shrugged at each other then walked up the stairs.

Before them was a flat balcony with the frame of grey and green blocks that surrounded a pit of lava. Within the centre of the frame was an inky, oily substance.

“The Portal,” Lindsay whispered. “It's already been opened.”

“They're already here,” Michael concluded.

There was a silence as they stared down at the Portal. Michael grabbed the hilt of his sword in his hand and frowned.

“Are you ready?” asked Jeremy.

“Mogar is always ready,” Michael replied.

Lindsay and Jeremy exchanged a concerned glance and Michael leapt into the Portal.

 


	21. They Fight a Fucking Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I took so long to update the new chapter! I got stuck on it, and then life became a huge mess. But now I am back, and unstuck. It's definitely not the best chapter in the world, and I wish I could do Lindsay's characterization better, but oh, well. Y'all'll have to deal.  
> On with the story!

He landed against an obsidian platform. A purple void overtook the entirety of existence below the platform and for as long as the eye could see. In fear, he lifted himself off the platform and stared in horror, wondering what plane of hell he had sent himself to.

Then the sounds of battle met his ears and he whipped around, his eyes laying upon a massive yellow island that floated in the middle of the purple nothingness. A set of yellow stairs led upwards in a spiral to the End.

Behind him, Lindsay and Jeremy fell into existence from nowhere. They jumped to their feet and looked around dumbly until Michael stood and they saw the island before them. Michael turned back to them and nodded once. Together, they started up the stairs.

Off in the distance, an roar shook the ground they stood upon. With a huff, Michael started up the steps, faster this time, sprinting full force with the two trailing not far behind.

He broke into open air and he was looking down upon a wide field. It was teeming with Endermen who were wandering about aimlessly as two shadowy figures danced and darted in between them. There was another roar and Michael turned just as a massive, winged creature soared over his head and dove for the two figures in the middle.

They each dove their own way to avoid the dragon's fire blown down on them.

Michael glanced around for anyone else, praying that the others were just hiding and preparing their attack. Yet, it seemed, it was just them and the two unknown beings down below.

“Is that them?” Jeremy asked, breathless, as he rejoined the traveler.

“No,” Michael replied darkly but didn't hesitate to draw his sword anyway. “but we need that Piece.”

He pointed towards the center pedestal where a golden block was displayed beautiful in contrast to the rest of the world. Lindsay and Jeremy exchanged glances, and Jeremy stepped forward. “Um, are we gonna have to fight that thing? 'Cause we didn't really bring any weapons.”

Michael glanced over his shoulder and smirked a bit. “What're you talking about? You have weapons.” He gestured to the wood axes in their belts, Jeremy's backpack which held the invisibility potions, and Lindsay's now half-empty bag full of things Michael wasn't sure it contained. “Anything can be a weapon if you swing hard enough.”

And with those words of wisdom, he jumped down the hill and rolled onto the field. Lindsay screamed something after him, but the thrill of battle was overcoming his senses and his focus narrowed solely on the fight before him.

The dragon spun around and landed on the large spire which held the Golden Piece. The ground shook violently and Michael fell to one knee to keep himself from falling. The Endermen around him chirped and brooded but none of them even looked in his direction. They just wandered aimlessly in circles without a purpose other than to avoid dragon fire and swords.

He glanced up from his position and slowly stood, catching the dragon's eye. “Hey! Dragonfuck! You gonna just stand there, or are we gonna dance!?” The dragon threw it's head back and roared angrily into the purple void above. The traveler grinned. “That's what I thought.”

He rushed forward, sprinted full force towards the dragon with his sword trailing behind him yet. He ducked and weaved between Endermen until he reached the podium and he pushed himself off the ground. The dragon leaned forward, jaws open wide, and he thrust his sword through the roof of it's mouth. It howled and shook it's head viciously. The sword came loose and both fighter and weapon were flung to the west.

Agonizingly, he landed on his feet and slid a few meters to the side of a warrior who had been here before him. He forced himself to stand straight and turned to meet the eyes of the one beside him; an Enderman. Or, at least up close, a man dressed as an Enderman. “Who are--”

“Take these,” he insisted, the accent striking sorrowful familiarity with the traveler. The Enderman held out a bag of many somethings and they clinked together as the cloth moved.

Michael hesitantly took the bag in his hand and opened it to peer inside. “Ender Pearls?”

“Look up.” Michael followed his finger to the obsidian spires that reached into the sky and the dancing cubes that floated above them. “Destroy them, and the dragon'll be a piece of cake.”

His gaze cast to Lindsay and Jeremy, who were hurrying their way to the scene. He glanced at the Pearls then at them and nodded once. “Understood. I'll join you in a bit.”

The Enderman grabbed his arm before he could leave and pulled him back again. “Don't you go jumpin' around like a pleb now, yeah? You're gonna hurt yourself again.”

Michael rolled his eyes and started away before he stopped and spun around again. “How did you--” But the Enderman was gone, shouting something to the other warrior across the way. She yelled something as a reply and disappeared with the throw of an Ender Pearl. Michael wrinkled his nose but hurried back towards the others as the Enderman and the woman kept it distracted. “Hey!” He produced to the Pearls and ordered them to take out the cubes, eight in total, in the sky.

The dragon took off again and began to circle around the pillars again. Purple beams of light shot towards the dragon and the blood that once dripped from it's mouth vanished without a trace and it was clear now why the cubes needed to be destroyed.

He frowned and turned back to them. “Try to hurry.”

“Michael!” Lindsay began and she was the second person in a few minutes to stop him by grabbing his arm to spin him around. “You're legs! The witch said--”

“I don't care what the witch said!” he snapped. “We're fighting a fucking dragon! If you think he isn't gonna be pissed about you destroying the cubey things, then you're an idiot. I'm going to keep it off you guys while you do the thing. I've got two other people out there who'll watch my back.”

Jeremy glanced out at them and frowned. “How do you know we can trust them?”

Inhaling, Michael said, “Because he's saved my life before. Now, go!”

With that, he sprinted back towards the middle again.

The duo exchanged unwilling glances before Jeremy groaned loudly and stared towards the nearest pillar. “Fuck that guy!”

By this time, the dragon was still circling about them and the Enderman Man and the woman were shooting it the best they could with arrows and bolts. Michael stopped close to the spire and looked up, waiting for any indication that the dragon would land soon. It was this moment he wished he still had his diamond bow.

He hurried around the side to the Enderman and the woman, who halted their attacks for the moment, mostly likely to save ammunition for when the dragon could be defeated. “I thought I told you to take care of the Ender Crystals,” the Enderman snapped, taking two steps nowhere.

“I've already got someone else to do that.”

“That's not the point,” the woman added, taking her eyes of the dragon for only a moment, and then sighed. As Michael finally stood beside her and looked at her, he realised how small she really was in comparison to the either of them. The weapon she held was massive for her stature yet she held it without issue. “Screw it. Do whatever you want. As long as we kill the bastard, that's all that matters.”

The Enderman glanced at her worriedly, but said nothing more on the matter. “It's gonna land again soon.” He nudged Michael with his arm and smirked a bit. “Try to keep up, yeah?”

“Please, it's you I'm worried about.”

The three of them split apart once more, each taking their own direction into the field of Endermen again. The dragon swooped low to the ground and Michael hauled his sword up over his head, striking it's wing with the end of his sword. The Enderman disappeared and reappeared once more atop the dragon's back. With a heave, he hauled his halberd down on the beast's back, ripped it back up, and, with the wave of his hand, disappeared again. The woman sprinted along the ground, firing near blind arrows at the dragon without tripping. Six of her ten arrows became lodged in the creature's stomach and it bellowed, flame shooting far into the sky above them.

By this time, Jeremy approached one of the pillars and opened the bag of Ender Pearls. “How do you use these things?” He tossed one in the air and caught it again, staring up at the pillar. “Can I even throw that high?”

“You can try,” Lindsay replied, though she didn't exactly sound confident. She placed her hands on her hips and glanced around contemplatively.

Not far to their right, fire and arrows contaminated the air and one the latter struck into the ground next to Jeremy's foot. “Wow, fuck!”

Lindsay glanced up at the dragon and, like she had been struck by lightning, she jolted suddenly. “I've got the stupidest, craziest, best plan ever.” She turned suddenly to Jeremy, who stared back in curiousity. “I need a boost.”

By the time the dragon swung back around again, the Crystals had healed it's wounds and it seemed ready to fight again, if mentally exhausted from the constant war. And, judging from the dangerous swaying and gasping breaths, Michael's two new companions were beginning to feel the same way. The burning rising again in his legs and the traveler was starting to find it difficult to stay completely still, though it could have easily just as been the rush of battle running through his blood.

“It's comin' again. Get ready.”

Michael steeled himself and sprinted towards the podium. He bolted up the steps and leapt strong into the air, striking the dragon with his sword through the chest. The sword lodged into it's scales and dragged Michael along with it. His back slammed against the Golden Piece as the creature temporarily lost the energy to fly and sailed into the ground. Michael hollered as his shoulder was crushed between the monster and the ground, dragged along the rocks until the dragon slid to a halt.

After a moment of silence, the dragon finally found the strength, granted by the Ender Crystals, to stand again, freeing Michael's arm. The Enderman cleaved his halberd into the dragon's wing. With a beat of it's wing, the man was sent flying backwards as his weapon flew somewhere in a crowd of Endermen and struck one across the face.

The woman, simultaneously, had started delivering heavy blows with her maul, repeatedly striking the creature in the chest where it was already wounded. The dragon lifted a claw and swiped her away, baring it's teeth in sheer annoyance that she had poured salt into a wound. She hit the ground. The dragon wasted no moment to lunge straight for her, sharp teeth out forward for a kill.

And, suddenly, half it's face had been cleaved clean off it's skull.

“Keep your fucking claws off my wife!”

The dragon flung it's head backwards, screaming in agony, and took to the sky with a few beats of it's wings. Michael groaned and finally found the strength to peel his face from the ground, looking up to see an outstretched hand. His gaze followed the arm up to the face of it's owner; King Ryan Haywood.

“Need a hand?”

Michael's intense expression fell into absolute gratefulness and he took Ryan's hand. Once the traveler was back on his feet, he quickly surveyed the area; Ray was watching the dragon circle the sky in absolute awe and Jack was watching the Ender Crystals up atop the pillars. Geoff was standing over the woman, helping her to her feet and greeting her with a great hug, even if it was not even close to the time for that exact thing.

He looked back to Ryan, and only one word fell from his lips; “How?”

“I'll explain later. Right now, we've got a dragon to kill.”

Perfectly timed on the end of his words, an explosion echoed in the sky above but it was unfamiliar and new to the situation. Their attention was turned to the top of one of the pillars where a wood axe was waving in the air by pure magic. Suddenly, the rest of a body appeared and Lindsay remained in the wake of the world, with rope rolled up on one hand, tied to the wood axe in the other.

The dragon roared and swooped down towards the top of the pillar but Lindsay didn't flinch. She wound up the arrow in one arm and javelin'd it into the dragon's leg. She clutched onto the rope and, all of a sudden, she was yanked into the air, hanging on by an arm and a prayer. It wasn't long before she let go and landed along the top of another pillar, rolling to break her fall lest she break her leg.

Jeremy came up beside Michael, who's jaw was agape, and shook his head. “She's fuckin' nuts.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Dragon, incoming! Keep it's attention off her!”

With old friends on one side and new companions on the other, Michael inhaled a new breath of reassurance. Weapons ready, they charged the podium as the dragon swung low and inhaled firey breathe.

...

It felt as though hours had passed.

Lindsay had finally swung her way to the last of the eight podium and was currently, tearing apart the iron bar that caged the last Ender Crystal. The dragon was healing much slower now, but the rest of them were not doing hot. Ray had managed to piss off several Endermen, who had targeted him for no reason other than to just to be annoying, and Jack and Jeremy was trying to help.

Ryan was struggling to breathe, Geoff was certain his hand was broken, and the woman, Griffon, could barely lift her weapon. Even Michael couldn't find the strength to stand; his legs were on fire and he was leaning against his sword for support. The only one who seemed semi-able bodied was the Enderman and blood was smeared across his face and he looked as though he was about to pass out.

“We still gotta kill the fucker, even when the last Crystal's bust.”

“Yeah. Fuck.” The Enderman glanced down at his pouch, opened it briefly, and examining the Pearls he had left. “That's not a lot.”

“Lindsay's still got a million of them. I don't think she's used any of them.”

The Enderman hummed thoughtfully and glanced back up at the dragon, who was making it's turn again. Up above, the eighth explosion rang across the sky and the air of the world changed. Lindsay appeared, suddenly beside them. Sweat was dripping down her face and blood was running down her arm from a brief, nasty encounter with a very angry dragon. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Good job on the cubes.”

“Destruction is my middle name.”

“Lindsay Destruction... what's your last name?”

“Get ready, guys!” Griffon's voice carried over them and Ray and Jack retreated from the small fight with the Endermen. “Let's make this quick.”

“No, shit!” Geoff gasped and it all started again. As soon as the dragon drew close, the Enderman broke for the podium in the centre of the field, followed closely by Michael, Griffon, Ryan, and Jack. The Enderman leapt up and swung his halberd for the beast's wing for an immediate attempt to ground the creature. The blade barely cut the beast, but the follow up by Griffon and her maul was enough to cause the dragon to lose balance. It landed more gracefully on the ground this time, though not quick enough to avoid Jack's onslaught of double battleaxes cleaving muscle from bone and rendering the wing absolutely useless.

In horror, it stumbled sideways and screeched. With a great breath, it blew fire across the land and everyone dove into their own directions to avoid it. Ray, having stumbled closer into the dragon's range, pulled his dagger out and whipped it towards the dragon. The knife stuck into it's eye and it retreated with another great holler.

Ryan pulled back his arm and threw his spear as a javelin and struck the dragon right in the shoulder. It reeled back it's claw and slammed him across the field. He struggled to his feet but didn't make it very far as an Enderman approached him and slammed an arm into his temple for no reason other than aggression. “Ah, what the fuck did I ever do to you!?”

Jeremy lifted his wood axe, frowned at it, and shook his head. “Well, since everyone's throwin' shit...” And he hurled it at the beast. The axe bounced off the dragon's scales and landed somewhere by the podium. Jeremy inhaled angrily and threw his hands in the air. “Well, shit!”

Michael stopped a few good meters from the podium and backed away as the dragon struck the ground and many things were throw at it. He stood back, watching this beast take damage. He looked down at the blue blade in his hand and gripped it tightly. With a deep breath, he turned back to the warrior and waved. “Geoff! I need a boost!”

“No! Fuck that! My fuckin' hand's broken!”

“I'm serious, Geoff! Get your ass over here and gimme a boost!”

“Michael!” The traveler's attention was turned to the Enderman, who was a two meters before him with his hands on one knee. “C'mon, lad!”

With a nod, Michael charged towards the man and jumped on his hands. With a great heave, the Enderman threw him into the air. Michael wound up his sword above his head and yelled. The dragon turned it's head just as Michael hit the apex of his jump and opened it's jaws to swallow him whole. Then, all of a sudden, a wood axe struck the beast with enough force to knock it's head sideways and give Michael a clear shot of it's neck.

“Die, motherfucker!”

And down came the blade on the dragon's neck, severing it's head clean from the rest of it's body. Dragon blood spewed everywhere as the head separated and hit the ground with a resounding thud. Michael slammed into the ground and rolled, failing to land back on his feet again and instead laying flat on his back. It wasn't long before the body collapsed over the podium and silence, at least, fell throughout the End.

Then the body exploded into light and disappeared from existence completely, but the head remained on the stony ground.

And just like that, it was over.

For a long time, no one dared to move or breathe. And then, “Holy fuck! Did you see that!? I nailed it right in the fucking face!” Jeremy pumped both his fists in the air in triumph. “Yeah, Jeremy is the best!”

“Holy fuck,” Ray whispered, being the first to lower his arms to protect his eyes from the light. “We actually did it.”

Everyone broke into celebratory cheers and gasps of relief and pain. Geoff, despite his broken hand, lifted Griffon into the air and hugged her tight. Jack and Ryan exchanged a congratulatory handshake and Jeremy and Lindsay jumped up and down in excitement.

Michael remained on his back and stared up at the purple sky above. Victory was sweet, if only he had the energy to move. It wasn't long before the purple view was obstructed by the Enderman Man who was grinning ear to ear in excitement. “You alright there, lad?”

“We did it,” he replied, an weary but excited smile gracing his expression. “We achieved... We achieved the thing no one has ever done before. We fucking did!” He burst into laughter and slammed his fist into the ground beside him. “Hell fucking yeah!”

The Enderman helped Michael to his feet and steadied the other before he limped over to the podium. Ray was the one to rejoin him after and he patted Michael on the back. “It's great to see you again, dude. Fuck, I thought you were a goner.”

The traveler laughed and shook his head. “Takes a lot more than that to kill me, Ray.”

“No, shit.”

“'Ey.” Michael turned his attention from Ray to the Enderman, who stood now on the podium above the rest of them. He threw something at Michael and he scrambled, clumsily snatching it out of the air, though just barely. He opened his hands and immediately taken aback by the sight of gold. “You deserved this one.” The Enderman looked back to Griffon and opened his hand to wave. Then he turned his wave into a two finger salute, turned, and fell into the podium.

Everyone remained silent, then Ray spoke up. “Michael, who was that guy?”

“I don't know. But I think I met him before.”

Further silence, and then Geoff slapped Michael hard on the back and huffed loudly. “Alright, Michael. You've got a shit ton of explaining to do.”

Weakly, the traveler laughed.

 


	22. The Achievement Hunters Find Peace Somewhere Else

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignore the very bad translating at the end and just go along with the story. Thanks!

“Then I guess when we got there, Griffon and her friend were already fighting the damn thing.” Michael pulled the steak out from the fire and inspected it's rarity before placing it back into the flames for a few more minutes. Edgar mooed behind him and looked over to the people around the fire. Quietly, she lowered her head again and continued to grass along the grass. “And the rest, as they say, is history.”

The fire cracked and a spark shot into the sky. Jack leaned back to avoid the ember as it landed but it vanished before it even got close. Jeremy finally retreated back to his seat with two sausages on the stick. He hesitantly picked one off, hurrying to place it on Ray's plate, then shaking out the burn on his fingers quickly. “Ah, hot!”

Ray snorted and picked up Jeremy's plate this time. “Gimme a heads up next time. I'll meet you halfway.”

“Right. Then, here comes the next one.”

Geoff chuckled at the boy's stupidity, then swung back some strong ale they'd picked up on their road to the End. “Who was that guy, Griffon? I don't have to beat the shit out of him or anything, right?”

“No!” she laughed, pulling their steaks from the fire to check on them. Pleased with the result, she began to peel them off the cooking rack and place them on the ceramic plates. “I met him while I was looking for the Tower.”

“Speaking of which!” Geoff screw the top onto his flask and set it on the ground next to him. “What were you thinking!? You just up and left without a word!”

Griffon frowned and handed him his plate of food. “You said you didn't wanna go. So, I thought I'd just go by myself.”

“You could've said something!”

“You would've tried to stop me.”

By this time, everyone had fallen into silence, trying awkwardly not to listen without avail.

“Yeah, but that's 'cause it's dangerous as dicks! Look, we fought the Obsidian Golem, and the Guardian of Achievelantis, and a motherfuckin' Dragon! We got trapped in hell with a bunch of cannibals and it's been absolutely the craziest, stupidest, greatest, worst, best thing I have ever done in my life!”

A brief moment as she considered his words, and then, slowly, she smiled. “So, you had fun?”

“Would've been more fun if you were here.”

Griffon awed and pushed him gently with her hand. “Eat your dinner.”

Michael glanced at Lindsay, who shrugged and took a long sip of water. Sighing, he turned back to the group. “So, what the fuck happened to you guys?”

Ryan set down his plate at his side and opened his mouth to speak, but it was Jack who took the story instead. “We tried to find you. When you fell, we escaped the city and we looked everywhere for you but we couldn't find you. We thought... We thought you and Gavin were goners.”

Michael glanced around hopelessly for a moment, then turned his attention back to Jack. “So, no Gavin.”

Jack shook his head. “He fell with you. We were hoping maybe you guys would've survived and stuck together, but...” He looked hesitantly to Lindsay and Jeremy, who were trying not to look at each other. “I guess not.”

Michael sighed, shrugged, and swallowed hard. “Well, how about after that?”

Jack began to explain how they became trapped in the Nether, wandering aimlessly for days before they somehow located a new Nether Portal in the middle of nowhere. While it was unusual and unexpected and not as far from their original portal, they did not question it and took the portal back to the Overworld. Once they returned, they gathered their bearings and rested in the nearest city. From there, they had been lost. They were unsure if they should return to the Nether or continue forward with their adventure.

“Ryan made a suggestion that we could just make a wish to get you guys back, but we weren't sure if that's in the Golden Tower Rule Book.” Jack leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Eventually, we made the decision to keep moving forward in search of the Tower. We spent a good few days collecting Ender Pearls and looking for a portal to The End. When we found it, the Portal was already active, so we jumped inside and... here we are.”

“Yup,” Ray added unnecessarily to break the awkward last word of a monologue. “It was pretty crazy.”

Michael nodded. “Well, I'm glad you guys are, like, okay. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I'd ever see you guys again. I thought you wouldn't have... kept going.”

“I'm amazed at how well this worked out!” Jeremy chirped. “We found Michael's friends, we got a Piece of the Tower, everyone's with everyone and it's great!”

Michael inhaled sharply, frowned, and stabbed the steak with a fork. “Not everyone,” Jack said quietly.

Jeremy paused, momentarily confused, and then he retreated back again. “Oh. Right.”

“Listen, Michael,” Ryan began finally, silent for nearly too long now. “when all this is over, I promise we'll set everything right.” Michael looked up from the plate of meat and watched the King. Ryan shifted, then pulled the map out from his back pocket. “The final piece can't be far.”

“Do we have any idea where it is?” Geoff asked, accepting the change of subject.

Ryan hummed thoughtfully, then turned to Michael. “Do you remember the Lyrical you read back at Pyro's Den?”

“Oh, fuck.” He hadn't thought about the scripture in ages. It had been weeks since he thought about it and he dug deep into his memory to recall a broken sentence he hadn't thought of in ages. “When something is in the reach of fingers, and the sky, and the heart of the Overworld, gold is stacked... Wait.” He pressed his fingers against his head and sighed. “Where the sky is in reach of fingers, there's gold stacked over the heart of the Overworld.”

“It must be referring to the Alter.” He held up the map and unfolded it, pointing to a large square in the very centre. “The Alter of the Gods.” Everyone leaned forward to get a better look, but Michael's gaze was focused purely on the King's expression. “That's where we have to go with all five Pieces and assemble the Tower. Only there will the Tower be able to grant it's wishes.”

“But we only have four,” Ray corrected, almost doubting his ability to count for a moment.

“Right.” Ryan moved his finger from the large square in the middle to a small square close to it. “But we've had a trend of places that were found the Pieces. The Forge, Atlantia, the Lost City, the End. They were all cities, or at a time a city, with the exception of thr Forge. They were all connected to the Battle Against the Gods. A major city connected to the Battle Against the Gods that we haven't been to yet. There can only be one place.” He looked up, waiting for the others to come to the conclusion that he had already made.

Then, suddenly, Jack yelled, “The City of Gold!”

“El Dorado?” Ray chuckled.

“Sort of,” Jack began. “There used to be a great Gold Mine underneath the city, so it became one of the places where the rich would live. It was an absolute paradise.”

“Yeah,” Jeremy scoffed. “'till they ran out of Gold and everybody just up and left.”

Lindsay interjected; “All the Gold was used to fund the Battle Against the Gods. They sucked that place dry. While it wasn't the richest city anymore, it was still considered one of the most revered cities in the Overworld.”

“That was why,” Ryan said. “after the Battle Against the Gods, the final piece was left in the care of the City of Gold.” Edgar mooed again and swatted her tail at an annoying fly. “Tomorrow morning, we'll set off for the City of Gold.” Everyone collectively agreed to do so and some vocalized they were heading off to bed. Michael stayed by the fire, watching it dance and flail around excitedly in the night.

...

In the morning, they all piled into the caravan and Ryan drove it towards the centre of the Overworld. Michael pulled himself up beside the King while everyone else pushed themselves into the back and chatted and laughed all the way. It was a days drive past desert biomes and through wide open fields of wildflowers and along forest trails.

Michael and Ryan were silent beside one another, listening to the overexcited yelling and belly laughter that echoed throughout the world around them. Eventually, Geoff lifted the flap and demanded that Ryan and Michael add their inputs to an argument between him and Lindsay and everyone seemed to have been siding with the latter.

It didn't take much for Michael to turn and stick his head into the caravan from the front, holding open the flap behind Ryan so he could speak as well. For the first time in weeks, there was no danger or anxiety or sorrow. It was just them, crammed into a caravan, travelling across the world to a place that would change their lives forever.

But despite the loudness and laughter and so many more people who filled the space with liveliness and energy, the caravan felt emptier somehow.

...

The sun was just about to rise in the east by the time the City of Gold came into view. “It should be called Achievement City,” Geoff mumbled, still half-asleep. Michael and Ryan stayed awake through the night and when the buildings on the horizon began to peak through, the traveler reached back and woke Geoff up. “'Cause it's where we'll do the last Achievement. The Full Achievement.”

Michael frowned.

The city was not as bright and colour or nearly as large anyone had been expecting. It was small and modest; there were few buildings and even fewer people. Upon the sound of hooves crunching the dewy grass, the people of the city came out of their houses to view their visitors. One of the people gasped and hurried away.

Ryan pulled the reigns and Edgar slowed. He got off the driver's seat and removed her binds for the moment. She mooed gratefully and wandered towards the forest to graze and rest. Michael stepped forward, keeping his eye on the confused and awed people who almost seemed happy to finally receive visitors.

As everyone was sleepily exiting the van, the one who had left returned with an elderly woman who seemed to be in quite good health for someone his age. She approached the visitors and opened her arms. “Welcome to the City of Gold. We have been waiting for you.”

...

They were offered chairs by the people, who had brought them from their dining rooms. Michael preferred to remain standing for he'd been sitting on the caravan all day. Some of the Achievement Hunters chose to sit for sleepiness made them unsteady and their muscles ached from the battle the day before. His own body had grown numb, but he was certain he would feel it when he awoke again next.

The village elder was kind and offered them food and drink and rest for the day. She did not rush them into anything but they were eager to locate the final piece.

“You were correct in coming here,” the Elder began as the Hunters gathered and ate by the fire. “There is hardly a clue to indicate that this place holds a Piece and less so that this place even still exists.” She gestured to one of the men and they bowed their head, moving away from the centre square. “The Tower has awaited centuries to be reunited together again and returned to it's proper place in the Alter of the Gods. But...”

She paused for a moment as the man returned and offered her something in his hands, bowing as she took it. Geoff leaned over to Michael, and frowned. “I don't like the sound of that but.”

“Do you know why it is,” She lifted her hands, which held the object, in the air. “that the Golden Tower was separated into Pieces and scattered for this long? Why the clues were scattered and kept from the general public and guarded by the world's greatest powers? Was there ever a question in your mind about what this meant? What you mean for this world?”

She lowered her arms and turned her attention back to her audience, who was now still and intrigued by her words. “The Tower is not meant for just any man, or Enderman, or God to just reassemble and use for their own means. It's power is not to be trifled with and it is not any mere game that you choose to assembled the Tower. Doing so will result in dire consequence. I hope that your wish will outweigh the catastrophe that will follow.” Michael shifted uncomfortably. It made him uneasy. He wasn't even sure what they were going to wish for anymore. “I hope you have heeded the words that were to set you on your quest for the Golden Tower.”

Everyone immediately turned to Michael, who shrugged. When there was silence still, he tried to recite it from memory. “When the fingers reach the sky, the gold is stacked in the... sky? That can't be right.”

The Elder sighed. “With the might of the sky in reach of innocent fingers, one will find the cursed gold stacked upon black stone over the dying heart of the Overworld.” Michael involuntary shivered. Beside him, Jeremy did the same thing.

“That doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know,” Jeremy huffed, folding his arms and leaning back unhappily.

The Elder sighed and opened her hands out, revealing the final piece. “We will begin the ceremony.” Everyone exchanged unsure glances but she raised a hand to ease them. “You will need to do nothing, but choose which of you will be the one to receive the Piece. It matters not who, but I will leave that decision up to you.”

Everyone looked to each other, then Geoff raised his hand. “I wanna do it! I lead this team to victory through thick and thin. I named us. I named all the places we went to. I get to do it.” Jack laughed, but no one protested. “Wait. No, I don't. I don't wanna get up.”

“Are you that lazy, Geoff?” Jack chuckled, but made no move to do so himself.

After a few minutes of arguing, Michael insisting that Geoff should do it because no one cared enough to do it and Griffon encouraged him to do so. Ryan volunteered but Geoff relented and got up to meet the Elder. A large bonfire was lit behind then, even though the sun was partway up the sky and there was little use for it.

The people of the city gathered behind the Hunters, watching the ceremony as it took place. The Elder turned to the people and raised the Golden Piece into the air.

“The rising of today's sun has blessed us with a great gift. Our ancestors feared and revered this moment, awaiting it with great pride. We, this day, have been given a chance to witness the very moment the world has awaited for, for many centuries.” She turned to Geoff, the gold in one hand and her other hand gesturing to his comrades. “Understand, dear Hunter, that I give this to you with full trust that you will know the right choice to make. You have fought the greatest threats of this world, shown bravery and courage and strength in times that many would fail to do so. Your valour and your victory is proof of your unity and your power. I have been granted the honour to bestow the final piece of the Golden Wish Tower to you, mighty warriors of the Overworld. The ones who call themselves the Achievement Hunters.”

She held out her hands and nodded to Geoff. Hesitantly, he took it from her and then he glanced at the Hunters down below. The Elder turned to her audience again and raised her hands. “This day, the final piece has been passed along to fulfill the destiny of this planet. We pray the Gods will guide you safely to the Alter and that your very wish will change the course of mankind. Volumus te vivere.”

Collectively, the village echoed, “Volumus te vivere.”

“What?” whispered Ryan.

“The translations rough, but,” Jack shifted. “I think they just said they want us to live.”

“We pray for your eternal life,” the Elder corrected, then turned to Geoff and bowed. He glanced awkwardly to the Hunters and bowed back. The village burst into abrupt applause, startling anyone who had not been expecting it. When they straightened their back again, the Elder took his hand and smiled. “Please stay for a celebration. This is a day we have been awaiting for many a year. It would be an honour if the Achievement Hunters, now warriors of the Overworld, would join us this night.”

Geoff didn't bother to look at the reactions of his friends. “Sure! Sounds like fun!”

The Elder turned to the audience and raised her arms to the air, announcing, “They will join us tonight for celebration! Bring the fattest pig and our strongest wines! Tonight, we shall live!”

 


	23. Did This Mean Anything To You?

Even though they were sore and Michael was exhausted from staying up all night and Ryan looked very weary and they all just wanted to go to the Alter, they drank and ate and celebrated with the people of the Golden City whole-heartedly. Geoff and Jeremy ran antics around the town while Jack, Ryan, and Griffon became familiar with the locals. Ray stuck with Michael and Lindsay for the most part, and they stuffed their faces with food then made up words to the songs played by the band that provided music for the night.

The wine was strong and flavourful and those who drank were drunk within the hour. The children started to dance between the bonfire and the band. With great delight, Lindsay jumped out of her seat and grabbed Michael's arm. “C'mon! Let's dance!”

“I-- Huh!? Wait, what?”

She pulled him from his seat without anymore words and guided him to the place where the children were and started dancing. Michael hesitantly glanced over at Ray, who shrugged and laughed. He caught his balance, turned his attention to Lindsay and shrugged, giving in to the night. It wasn't long before a few of the adults joined their children around the bonfire. The music grew louder and quicker than it did before.

Music and laughter echoed through the valley and on until the morning.

...

“Hey. Michael. C'mon, get up.”

He woke with a thunderous headache and little memory of the night before. He groaned and rolled over, his arm falling from his forehead onto someone else's face beside him. Judging from the groan, it was Ray. “C'mon, man... What the fuck?”

Michael's eyes focused on the figure standing over him. The first thing he registered was the plaid pattern of a skirt before he realized he was staring up at Ryan. “Hey. What up?”

“It's time to go,” Ryan whispered. “The locals are still asleep and I wanna hit the Alter before sundown.”

“Dude, we still got a whole day...”

“The sun's halfway across the sky. C'mon, we gotta get going. You too, Ray.”

The vigilante grumbled something in protest and rolled over.

Half an hour later, they were on the road again. Michael was still falling asleep on Jack's shoulder, without an intention to do so. Jack didn't try to move, and the traveler was grateful for this. Exhaustion and hangovers made the trip quiet. Halfway through the trip, Michael realised, that this could very well be the last road trip they would travel as the Achievement Hunters.

Slowly, he opened his eyes to get a good look at the fellow Achievement Hunters. After this, they would leave and go home and so would he. He would return to his secluded home in the middle of the forest and return to the solitary life he claimed as his own. If he had told himself several weeks ago that he might actually miss a crazy group of colourful adventurers and mourn the thief who stole his bow, then he would think himself absolute insane.

Yet here he was, dreading the end of this adventure.

“Guys. We're here.”

Michael pushed aside the flap of the caravan and peered up towards the sun. Before them was the massive Alter of the Gods. Marble stone upon marble stone piled up high into a great temple that touched the indigo sky. Large pillars marked the start and end of a great staircase that lead up to the very top of the temple.

Everyone pushed aside the exhaustion in favour of excitement for the final stage of their journey. They pushed each other out of the caravan and whispered excitedly to each other about what it would mean to do this.

“What are we even gonna wish for?” Ray asked then as Ryan tied Edgar to a nearby tree so she wouldn't wander off and become lost again. “Weren't we doing this for Geoff before?” Everyone looked to each other, but it was more in the silence of an answer than the pondering of a question.

“We're doing this for Gavin,” Michael said then.

Everyone nodded in silent agreement and Geoff stole the first step up the staircase. “C'mon, guys and gals. We got ourselves a Tower to build.”

It took nearly five minutes of straight walking up the staircase to reach the top. Twice, Michael had to slow down for the pain in his legs would flare up and walking grew so difficult. The second time, Jack offered a hand to help Michael up the final stretch of the stairs, rather than leave him behind for the sake of saving time they didn't really need.

Finally, they reached the top of the staircase. They were greeted with a large set of double ivory doors with pictures of dragons and words written in the Old Language carved into them. The Forgery of Ajax, the people of Atlantia, the Dark City, The End, and the City of Gold, all carved into beautiful pictures, though they would not have been distinguishable had they not seen those places yet.

Geoff inhaled and, with Ryan's help, pushed open one of the double doors. The doors opened to a grand dome-shaped room. The walls were colourful with beautiful paintings of old legends and myths that were now told as simple stories to children before bed. Every inch of the walls were covered in ancient paint, all up to the ceiling where a skylight was placed in the centre, though blocked off by glass to protect the Alter from the elements. Beneath the skylight was a pedestal, and behind the pedestal was a two staircases leading up just above it, though while both lead to a balcony, the balcony didn't seem to lead anywhere in particular and just remained suspended in air.

Everyone ventured their own way, examining the beautifully carved pillars and examining tiny details that must have taken hours to perfect. The ivory palace was breathtaking in every sense of the word. Michael would never have imagine that the Alter of the Gods would have been so gorgeous. How could a place like this be lost with time?

“I'm amazing a place like this could stay so intact after all this time,” Griffon mused, reaching up to feel an oddly shaped pillar.

“There's a rumour the Gods protect it,” Jack answered, refusing to look away from the paintings. “They refuse to let this place fall to ruin. It's like the only place on Earth they are in contact with anymore. They're trying to hold onto it as best they can.”

Ryan approached a pedestal which laid under the skylight, spear in one hand and his block in the other. He leaned over the pedestal and brushed away the thick layer of dust that had settled on the face of it. Symbols had been dug into the top thought they were simple, they were clear. “I think this is where we place the Pieces.”

Immediately, everyone was drawn to the centre of the room. There was a silence, an exchanging of glances, as the Pieces were pulled from their pockets. “Here, Jack,” Geoff whispered quietly, handing him the Golden Piece he had received from the Elder. “We'll each put a Piece of the Tower on the pedestal.”

Holding up the Obsidian block, Geoff nodded to the rest who held a Piece; Jack, Ray, Ryan, and Michael. He placed the tiny Obsidian on the face and held out his hand. Immediately, it popped back into it's normal size, taking up exactly the space that needed to be filled on the pedestal.

Everyone looked to each other and inhaled. Ray placed his block, and then Jack. By this time, the Tower was too tall to reach up to. Ryan nudged Michael's arm and gestured to the staircase behind it. “I think that's how we get up there.”

They turned to each other and grinned. “After you, my liege.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Geoff reached out his arms to stop them, with an excited look on his face. He gestured to the other staircase on the other side. “Michael, you should go up that staircase, and Ryan will go up this one, and it'll look super cool, and you should totally do it.”

Michael threw his head back and laughed. “Okay! I'll do it.” Exactly as Geoff had stated, Michael hurried to the other staircase and, simultaneously, him and Ryan started up the steps towards the balcony. They reached the top together and laughed. Everyone below chuckled.

Ryan stepped forward first and knelt down, dropping his block atop of Jack's. It expanded suddenly and leveled out at where the balcony was. Ryan gestured forward for Michael to place the block on to his. Happily, Michael stepped forward and dropped to one knee, placing the miniature gold block onto Ryan's and allowing it to expand.

All of a sudden, a golden light shot through the skylight and lit up the entire room. Everyone brought up their arms to protect themselves from the light. The light never faded but their eyes were soon able to adjust. A collective, awed gasp echoed off the rounded walls of the room. “It's working,” Jack whispered, being the first to lower his arm. “I think this is it. I think we can make our wish!”

Geoff grinned and stepped forward, only to be stopped by a loud voice.

The next Michael knew, a diamond edge was held against his throat and his body was held tight by a single arm. He didn't bother to struggle, lest he risk cutting open his jugular on the blade.

“Stop, or I won't hesitate to kill him.” Everyone stared up the pedestal in horror as Ryan pressed the tip of his spear close to Michael's face, slowly working his way around the steps, but never reaching any farther than half of halfway. “This wish is mine.”

Lindsay reached for her hand axe but was stopped when Ryan pressed the spear against the skin of the traveler's neck. “Holy shit, Michael!”

“What the fuck?!” Geoff yelled, throwing his arms in the air. “Why the hell didn't you say something!? The fuck's with all the theatrics!”

Ryan frowned and stole another step down the stares so he could reach a better view of them. “Because what I want isn't something you'll just willingly let me have. Not if Gavin is dead.” Silence allowed permission for him to continue. “As a King, I have watched wars tear apart lands and murder innocent people. I, myself, have had my land torn apart by warring kingdoms who wanted to take it for their own. As a King, I can only control the people of my land and those who wish to listen to me. But as a God...”

Shivers ran down Michael's spine and his heart skipped an entire beat. “As a God, the world will be my land and my people will be all the people in the world.”

“Wait,” Ray interjected suddenly, throwing his hands in the air as to not mean aggression. “so your plan is to take over the world?”

Ryan pondered the question for a moment then tilted his head one side to another. “Ah, I suppose it would be a form of world domination. But it would be for a greater good.”

“What greater good?!” Lindsay snapped, resisting the urge to grab her axe. “You're threatening us right now? Do you really think taking over the world is for the best of everybody? Are you really that delusional?”

The King pursed his lips together and inhaled uncertainly. “All I want to do is stop war. The mobs have been destroying the world, tearing apart homes and killing people. Ray, that was your whole thing, wasn't it? Mobs were destroying the town and they wanted to tear down the orphanage. You were all cornered in Jack's inn by a bunch of shit until the inn caught fire. Nexxas was destroyed because of war!”

Michael flinched visibly and he sent an elbow into the King's stomach. Instead, the majesty held on tighter than before and the blade was pressed in against his skin harder than before. “You have no right to talk about Nexxas!”

Ryan tightened his grip on Michael and readjusted himself so his hold was further secure on the traveler. “But listen! If I'm God, then I will be able to stop all this from happening again. No more war, no more meaningless bloodshed. They have abandoned us! But I... I promise I will never turn my back on this world. The Gods don't know what it's like to live on this planet. They don't care about what happens to us. It's always been about them and what they want. Why do you think this Tower was built in the first place!? This Tower was created so that one day, a human would ascend to a greater power and take control of the world once and for all. After the Battle Against the Gods, they abandoned us and left us with only mortal power to fight for the world!

“But I... When I ascend to the sky above, I will make everything right. This world will be a paradise! I am doing a good thing! This will be my final good deed as a mortal King, to his people! To all the people of the world!”

Jeremy threw his arms out to his sides. “You're fucking crazy!”

“I'm not!” Ryan shot back. “I am not crazy! I'm angry. I'm mad!”

“The bloody Mad King, I reckon.” The voice reverberated through the dome-like walls. Everyone turned to the entrance door, where an Enderman – or a man dressed as an Enderman – stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the light behind him. “This guy's fuckin' insane.”

There was a shocked silence, broken only by something that clinked behind the King and his prisoner and, all of a sudden, a creeper dressed man appeared out of thin air. He stood straight with an arrow knocked in his diamond bow, trained on the King himself. “Sorry, Rybread, but the Tower is actually mine for the taking.”

 


	24. It Ends Like This...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, ladies and gentlemen, after two years of writing this story, it has finally come to an end. Thank you so much for reading this far, and I hope you enjoy the exciting conclusion to The Journey of Pimps.

“Gavin!”

Gavin grinned, nodding his head at the people below. “See, Dan? Told ya this would happen.”

“Ey, no shittin', B.” The Enderman stepped forward, adjusting the diamond bow around his shoulder but opting to withdraw his crossbow, aiming in a general direction. He surveyed the people first before he finally trained it on the King above.

Ryan turned his back towards the wall, bringing Michael forward as a human shield. “What the hell? I thought you were dead!”

“For a while there,” the creeper chuckled. “so did I. But it always helps to have an extra hand runnin' behind the scene. Right, B?”

Dan the Enderman nodded. “Yeah, B.”

“I should've known it was you,” Ryan mumbled to himself, then readjusted his grip on Michael, who coughed against the blade.

“Not great,” he choked out.

“Don't worry, boi,” Gavin chirped, though his expression was anything but happy. “I got you.”

The King glared at the creeper, the room falling into a stalemate. Slowly, Ryan began down the steps, careful not to fall as he dragged Michael with him. “Alright, Gavin” he began, taking note that Gavin was following him down the steps as well. “Sate my curiousity. What do you plan to wish for?”

The creeper grinned like he had a great idea and his gaze temporarily cast to Dan then back to Ryan. “Well, me an' Dan were thinkin'... of maybe a lotta money. Some power.”

“We're gonna be Kings,” the Enderman simplified, smiling simply at the idea.

Ryan stopped his descent to throw his head back in laughter. “Oh, if only you told me that sooner! We could've struck a deal. But, I don't think our friends here would really appreciate it if we just took this away from them.”

“Why?” Gavin asked, glancing at the Hunters below. “What're they gonna wish for?”

“Who cares?” Ryan mumbled, continuing down the steps again.

“I dunno,” Michael gasped. “I'd like my legs back.”

“Not happening,” the King snapped back. Finally, he made it to the bottom step and he walked backwards away from everyone, still holding Michael in his arms. “Alright. This is what's gonna happen. You all are gonna back away from the Tower. Gavin, you're gonna join them. When my wish is granted, I'll let Michael go and we can all walk away alive. But if any of you tries to do anything cute, he won't get to live to see another--”

He was violently interrupted by an invisible force that knocked his head sideways hard enough to make him stumble and lose his grip on Michael. The traveler fell to his knees, scrambling to make them work but failing to make a great distance. Suddenly, he was brought to his feet by that same invisible force and pulled towards the Tower. He glanced up to the source of the energy just as a familiar face finally became visible again. “What the fuck? Jeremy?”

The short man pumped a fist into the air and grinned. “Invisibility potions for the win!”

There was a familiar clink and the Enderman was suddenly before them with his hands up. He aimed the tip of his crossbow at Jeremy's head, who recoiled and nearly dropped Michael. “Don't move!” Dan ordered and the two froze instantly.

“Dan!” Griffon snapped, stealing a step forward, but was stopped when Gavin trained his arrow on her briefly. “What are you doing!?”

“Sorry, love,” he replied. “but I came this far and I ain't gonna let it slip now.”

The room fell into a stalemate again. Ryan pressed his palm against his bleeding lip and used the pillar beside him to get to his feet. Gavin moved his arrow from Griffon to Ryan while Dan pushed Michael and Jeremy to group up with the other Hunters.

“Gavin, what the fuck!?” Michael snapped. “Who's side are you on!?”

The creeper kept his bow trained on the King but turned his head to look at Michael. “No one's. Well, mine, I guess, but I know you aren't on my side.”

“Fuck you!” Geoff screamed, flipping both Gavin and Ryan off with the same hand. “Fuck you guys! I trusted you! We trusted you! Why would you do this!? If you were going to fucking just betray us at the end, then why did you even bother to work with us?”

Gavin inhaled glancing roughly at Ryan first before huffing unhappily. “I couldn't do this alone. Me an' Dan, we didn't grow up with much. We were theives who lived on the bloody street. So when the rumour of a Wish Tower came up, we knew we'd be fools not to go after it. But I'm not stupid. If it would be so easy to get the Tower, someone would've done it already.

“But when we met Griffon, who was travellin' alone in search of the Tower, I got an idea. I'm no fool, boys. Livin' on the streets makes you clever. Right, X-Ray?”

Ray pondered the question for a moment, then answered hesitantly, “Sure?”

“I broke into Michael's house, 'cause I was looking for some protection. Diamond bows and swords. Amour. You had everythin'. So I thought to myself, why the hell not? I'll assemble a good team and we'll gather the Tower together. Followin' you, it was like everythin' fell into place. Had to pull some strings and get some good ideas flowin', give you some motivation... You made it too easy.”

“So you manipulated them,” Ryan chuckled. “Do you really think they're just gonna give you the Tower?”

Gavin glanced at Ryan, annoyed. “No, Ryan. That's why I'm bloody holding you at bow point an' not askin'. Yeesh. Alright, Dan. Fire 'er up.”

Dan nodded and stepped sideways, moving towards the Tower carefully without taking his eye off anyone.

“You used us,” Michael growled, stealing the silence. Dan hesitated, but continued on, very slowly. “You prick! You just used us!? Did any of this mean anything to you!? God, I thought you died! Wow. I felt sad for you. But you turned out to be just an asshole. Fuck you.” He blinked, gathering himself for a moment, and then his gaze managed to focus on a familiar imperfection on the bow. Squinting his eyes, the imperfection became clear to him; _M Jones_.

He inhaled sharply, balling his fists, and every ounce of rage he felt now was incomparable to any other time in his entire life. “And that's my fucking bow! You motherfuckin' son of a bitch!”

He jumped forward, arms out in front of him. Gavin didn't have any time to react before Michael was on top of him, sailing a good fist right into Gavin's cheek. The bow flew out of his hands and slid somewhere behind the staircase as Michael wailed as hard as he could on the creeper. Dan, who had been inches from the Tower, stopped what he was doing to run over to Michael, grabbing him by the waist and throwing him aside.

Ryan didn't hesitate; he grabbed his spear and bolted for the Tower at the simultaneous moment Geoff, Lindsay, and Ray broke for the Tower and Jeremy, Jack, and Griffon ran to help Michael.

Ryan jumped over the staircase and was instantly beside the tower. He lifted his spear to fight but against Geoff's great axe, he was smart enough to realise he didn't stand a chance. He threw it like a javelin at Geoff, which was enough to make him stumble despite the fact it had missed.

“You've lost!” the King bellowed and slammed his palm against the Tower. “I wish to be a God!”

Far above, the sky turned black and clouds formed from nowhere, faster than any sense of nature could do.All of a sudden, the Tower pulsed and the pulse was sent up the beacon far into the darkening sky above. Several people screamed, “No!” as the light exploded across the sky and a ring of thunder and lightning shot in every direction over the horizon.

Quickly, it returned, almost like an implosion, and the pulse was sent back down the beacon. As soon as it struck the Tower, the pulse exploded across the room and everyone was blow backwards with great force.

And then the world fell silent.

...

The headache was pounding, like his brain was trying to hatch the world's most painful escape plan. His body felt as though he was engulfed in flame but he didn't have the energy to cry, even if he wanted to. Slowly, he peeled his face off the hot marble floor and pushed himself to lean up. Slowly, throughout the room, everyone woke. A mix of profanities and questions of well being quietly echoed off the walls as people regained their surroundings.

“What happened?” Jeremy mumbled, rubbing an injury on his head he was yet unaware of.

“Let me die,” Ray groaned when Jack approached him with an offered hand. “I think I'm dead.”

Michael huffed, painfully trying to pull his legs in under his body so he could stand when a hand appeared in front of his face. He glanced up and his eyes fell on the gaze of Gavin, black eye and bloody lips, grinning as if somehow he still won. “Fuck off,” he snapped. “I'm fine.”

Gavin frowned and pulled his hand away, standing straight again, watching Michael struggled to get to his feet again. “I'm sorry, Michael.”

He pushed himself to a kneel and he snarled. “Go fuck yourself.”

Gavin opened his mouth, but it wasn't him who spoke. “He's dead.”

Everyone instantly fell silent, turning their attention to the source of the voice; Dan, who was leaning over Ryan's body. Jack got Ray to his feet then hurried over to the body. Dan patted the jacket twice then stood, backing away so Jack could take a better look. Slowly, Gavin joined his friend.

Jack reached down and pressed two fingers against Ryan's throat. A moment passed and then he lowered his head. “Yeah. He's gone.”

“Holy shit,” Geoff whispered, pressing his fingers against his lips. “Then it... it didn't work?”

“Bloody hell.” Dan lifted his crossbow and aimed it for Jeremy's head. The man ducked just before Dan fired the gun and both him and Gavin disappeared, reappearing just before the doors. Michael stole two steps in their direction but stumbled and forced himself to lean against the wall for support.

The Enderman handed Gavin something in his hand and the creeper lifted it into the air, as though to check it's authenticity. “Good thinkin', Daniel,” he said quietly. “He takes somethin' from us, we'll take somethin' from him.”

Ray stepped forward, squinting for a better look, then his arms out. “The fuck? That's Ryan's insignia!”

“Looks like everyone got what they wanted. Well, almost everyone.” His gaze fell to Ryan and then to Michael. “It been fun, but I'm afraid Dan and I gotta take our leave. It's been a pleasure.” He smiled a bit and threw out his arm in an odd waving salute. "See ya later, Micool."

Dan grabbed Gavin's arm and loaded his crossbow. He glanced once to Griffon and saluted his crossbow at her. “See ya, Griffon.” She lifted her hand to wave and Dan fired his crossbow. And then they vanished with the blink of an eye.

“That bitch!” Michael snapped, stumbling forward with all his strength. He tipped to one side but was caught by Lindsay, who had hurried to his side. “I'll kill him.”

“Don't worry, Michael,” Geoff mumbled, staring at the door. “If he plans be King, he won't be hard to find.” The traveler huffed but relented and Lindsay helped him back towards Ryan's body.

“We can't just leave him here like this,” Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair. “No matter how much of an asshole he turned out to be, he was still one of us. It's the least we can do.”

Geoff wrinkled his nose and whined. “Gah, Jack, You're too nice for your own good.” But he protested no less and grabbed Ryan's legs. Jack smiled sadly at him.

...

“Too bad none of know how to do a proper burial service,” Ray whispered when the last of the dirt was piled onto the grave. “I... Like, to be honest...” But he never finished that thought and instead settled to place his hand on his mouth. Jeremy patted him on the back and sighed.

Jack and Geoff stared down at the grave quietly. The silence was awkward and depressed and still sort of angry. Or maybe it was just Michael, but he was too tired now to be angry or awkward. He inhaled deeply and ran a hand through his hair. All they had done together, and fought for, and it seemed to have been suddenly lost.

All this, and Ryan was dead and Gavin was dead to him. Nothing had been gained. Not a single damn thing.

...

They decided to travel to the rainforest first. Geoff and Griffon sat up at the front and decided to take charge of taking everyone home and Lindsay's treehouse was the closest to their current position.

Michael rested his arms on his knees and stared into the wooden floor. Everyone else had decided to rest given the long ride they had ahead of them, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't fall asleep. So he remained awake, simply staring deeply at the wood.

“What're you thinking about?” He jumped with surprise and turned to Lindsay, who was still awake across from him.

He hesitated for a moment, then leaned back against the wall. “I dunno. I just keep thinking... What if it did work? All that build up about the power of the Tower and then all of a sudden, it doesn't work? What if he just needed to shed his mortal body to ascend into Godhood or some shit? How do we know his plan failed, or succeeded?”

“Sounds like your trying to find a loophole.”

He shrugged. “I guess.”

There was a silence. Then, Lindsay leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Well, if he really is a God now, at least you'll know who to pray to at night.” He looked at her but she was already asleep.

...

“We're here,” Geoff shouted through the flaps.

Jeremy and Ray were playing a hand game, and then the former jumped. He leaned over to Lindsay and shook her awake. She leaned up suddenly, regaining her surroundings slowly, and then rubbed her eyes. “We're here already?”

“Yup!”

“Damn.”

The two of them collected their things from around the caravan and everyone climbed out to say goodbye. It was awkward, full of unusual hugs that hadn't been shared before, and a weird air surrounded them. They hadn't been friends before, and perhaps they hadn't known each other that long, but it was still hard to say goodbye.

Lindsay hugged him last and he didn't really want to let go. “Thanks for saving my ass,” he mumbled as they pulled away.

“Thanks for making things interesting,” she replied and Michael chuckled and shrugged but said nothing more. “You know, Michael... If you wanted to stay with us, you can.” The question was a surprise and he stiffened. “You said you lived alone, and it's gonna be kinda hard with your injury to keep doing whatever you did before. So, I just wanted to let you know that if you can come stay with me. If you don't have anywhere else to do, that is.”

There was a hesitance. Few had taken note of their conversation, and so he felt slight pressure to make up his mind now. After a moment of silence, he sighed. “Maybe later. I kinda just wanna go home and relax, I guess.”

“Sure thing.” Her reply was understanding, but he still felt sort of odd about turning down her request. “Jeremy and I will be here until the end of the week, so if you change your mind, you know where to find us. Take care of yourself, Michael.”

“You, too.”

The ladder reached forever into the sky but Lindsay and Jeremy shared a fist bump before they had even looked up to the treehouse. The caravan left before they had even begun to climb it.

...

“Are you going to open your inn again, Jack?” Geoff asked when they stopped at Diaz for Ray. Jack had decided that he would stay in Doel for the time being, until he could gather enough money to supply the rebuilding of his inn. Geoff and him talked excited for a short moment about meeting again in the future.

Ray patted Michael on the shoulder and offered him a hand to shake. “Listen. Don't be a stranger, kay?”

“Hell, yeah. Take care, Ray.”

Ray hadn't taken two steps into his town before he was bombarded by children demanding stories and hugs. “Yeah, it's me. What up?”

Some children disappeared into the orphanage and returned again with Tina in tow, pulling her to the front gates. The moment their eyes met, she sprung a bright smile and hurried between the children to see him. “You're back!”

“I told you I'd be. C'mon, don't expect any less from me.”

Jack glanced back at Geoff and patted him on the shoulder. “I'll catch you later, alright?”

Geoff nodded and returned the gesture. “Take care.”

Jack carried in after Ray and the guards shut the city doors. Michael shoved his hands in his pockets and returned to the caravan.

...

“Michael, where do you live?”

“You won't be able to get there with the caravan. Here's fine.” Michael jumped out of the back of the caravan, with difficulty, and made his way to the forest. Before he entered, he turned back and waved to them. “This is it. Thanks for dropping me off.”

“Hey, what? I wanna proper goodbye!” Geoff hopped off the front seat and made his way to Michael, offering him a good hug. The traveler laughed and returned the hug before they let go and Geoff patted him on the head. “I'm gonna miss you.”

Michael shrugged. “I'm gonna miss you, too. Don't hesitate to come say hi once in a while.”

“If you change your mind,” Geoff said suddenly. “and you decide to take Lindsay up on her offer, then gimme a shout and I'll give you a ride, okay?”

He nodded and waved, turning to leave again. “Thanks for the offer. I'll be sure to let you know.”

“Oh, and Michael!” He stopped once more, watching Geoff retreat to the caravan for a moment to fetch something. He turned around with a diamond bow in his hand. Slowly, he walked up to Michael and offered the bow to him. Slowly, Michael took it by the handle, spinning it in his hand in search of the mark. Undoubtedly, there it was; _M Jones_. “Gavin dropped it when you started punching him in the face. I figured, since you were looking for it all this time, well... I figured you might as well get something out of this mess. It's not a wish, and it's not perfect health, but it's something.”

He looked up from his bow to Geoff and he opened his mouth, though at a loss for words. He looked back down at his bow, then back at Geoff, and finally he said, “Thank you.”

“Don't mention it.” The warrior turned and returned to his wife on the caravan.

“Well, the bow wasn't the only thing I got out of this,” he said suddenly. Geoff paused, smiled at him, then got in the driver's seat.

Griffon waved as the caravan drove away and soon, it was just Michael and the forest. Familiar morning birds chirped away in the trees. Animals scurried about in the bushes. This place had never felt like home more than at this moment. Holding the bow to his chest, he entered the shadows of the forest and began to carefully venture in between the trees. The sun rays which peeked through the leaves warmed the skin it fell upon and the coolness of the shade made him shiver.

Slowly, the trees opened to a clearing which sat a wooden home in the centre. Where the grass had once been worn from his footsteps had grown back, full and lush once again. Beside the door to his house was a sign that read Mogar, with Michael Jones crossed out on the top.

He followed the path that had been laid out once a long time ago up to his door and, gently, he pressed it open. The door swung with a quiet creak, giving way to the cozy living room full of a thousand things he wish he had brought with him on his journey. He set the diamond bow on the dining room table and knelt before the furnace, striking a fire with the old wood that had been left in there before.

Spiders had made cobwebs in the corner of his home and dust was beginning to settle in light layers all over his unused house. With the fire burning now, he would worry about that another time. He grabbed the bow again and went upstairs.

His bedroom was equally untouched with the layer of dust on everything. He approached the line of weapons on the wall. First, he set his diamond sword back where it was always meant to be and then to the empty space where his diamond bow had been stolen from. Gently, he placed it on the rack and backed away, content with everything in it's place and full once again.

And that was it.

Slowly, the content smile faded from his lips. Long ago, the chirping of birds was enough to keep the silence at bay and the spiders in the corners always made for fine enough company, but now this place seemed so... quiet. Empty. Even though he had replaced the bow where it rightfully should be, this place was still yet missing something.

His hands dropped from his hips and he stared at the diamond bow now, as though it had the answer to all his questions.

And then it did.

There was a new mark there now, on the other side of where he had carved his name. Slowly, he stepped forward and brushed the dirt off the new mark. Words, written in the awkward script of someone who tried to carve diamond with diamond but was not as adept that they hoped. A message from someone else who once used this bow themselves. Barely able to make out the words, Michael squinted and whispered it to himself; _Thank You_.

He leaned back, his eyebrows furrowing at the message. Was it from Gavin? He forced himself to a stand and turned to look out the window. Trees and greenery as far as the eye could see, and birds and bugs that zipped by the window in a rush to get home. Quietly, he turned from the window and sat down on his bed, kicking his feet up and laying on his back. He stared at the wooden ceiling, not quite seeing it. So he didn't want this to be the end. So he wanted to go back out there and try again.

Perhaps he would.

But for now, he rolled over and fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! Thank you so much for staying until the end! I know it's not a perfect ending, a lot of stuff untied, some things that need to be worked out, but I hope it's enough of an ending for you. I really have a good idea of a sequel (I know I've said this before, but I really wanna try this time. And the other sequel I wanna work on is still in the works, it just needs to be written--) so I hope that maybe I will write that when I get the chance. (Hopefully started Tuesday?)  
> Anyways, thank you so much for all your support that lead to the eventual conclusion and I am so glad that you guys enjoyed the story. Again, thank you so much and I hope the rest of your day is wonderful!  
> Stay awesome and happy writing!


End file.
